Post-Earthquake Haiti : Disaster + Design in the Diaspora
SPONSOR: AIA Diversity & Inclusion
Event Location:
Boston Marriott Copley Place, 110 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02116
Room: Fairfield
Fees to attend: Haiti Day long Event: Yes, details to follow soon.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2010
9am: Black Design News Network (BDNN) The Launch
Exposing the World to Designers of the Diaspora: A Digital Expose
Atim Annette Oton Disaster in the Diaspora – Overview of the Last Six Months of Initiatives
Renee Kemp-Rotan Overview of the Panel System/Overview of the Code
9:10am – 10:10am
PANEL 1- Post-Earthquake Haiti as a Physical System: Rebuilding the Country: The Full Monty Update
Renee Kemp-Rotan, Co-Founder, Black Design News Network/Moderator
- Ambassador Leslie Voltaire, U.N. Special Envoy/Government of Haiti
- Jean Emile Simon, President Society of Haitian Architects
Above: Ambassador Leslie Voltaire, U.N. Special Envoy/Government of Haiti
Description: This Panel focuses on what is being done in Haiti since the devastating earthquake of 2010. Through PowerPoint presentations, a Haitian Envoy and government dignitary and Haitian architect who participated in the Haitian Summit sponsored by AIA/Puerto Rico in April 2010 will update the entire NOMA membership and others on proposals and plans for Haiti’s redevelopment. Maps, Images, plans will be shown.
10:20am – 10:30am – Break -
10:30am – 11:30am
PANEL 2: Post-Earthquake Haiti as a Social System: Rebuilding the Family: Women and Children at Risk
Atim Annette Oton Co-Founder, Black Design News Network/Moderator
Diane Jones, Assistant Professor, Landscape Architecture, Morgan State University; Dowoti Desir, Founder, Durban Declaration Programme of Action Watch Group, (DDPA Watch Group); and Ella Ayiti Turenne, Assistant Dean for Civic Engagement, Occidental College
Description: This Panel focuses on what issues are facing women in Haiti since the devastating earthquake of 2010. Presentations will update the entire NOMA membership and others on how women will be involved in Haiti’s redevelopment.
11:30am – 12:30pm
PANEL 3 Post-Earthquake Haiti as a Cultural System: Rebuilding Identity: The Haiti Culture Code- Architecture, Disaster + Cultural Identity
Renee Kemp-Rotan, Co-Founder, BDNN/Presenter/Moderator
Jean Emile Simon, President Society of Haitian Architects, Benjamin Vargas, FAIA, Architect and 2010 Whitney M. Young, Jr. Award Winner, Bettina Byrd Giles, Interculturalist, The Birds Nest, LLC, Erica Rioux-Gees, Architect, AIA National Board Member and Disaster Expert, Anthony Whitfield, Associate Dean, Parsons The New School for Design; Mabel Wilson, Associate Professor of Architecture, Columbia University, Architect Rodney Leon, Rodney Leon Architects, Jenna McKnight, Architecture Record, Dale Joachim, MIT Media Lab, Haiti and Social Media, Max Beauvoir, President of International Brotherhood of Voodoo Priests,Michel DeGraffe, MIT, Linguistics Expert on Kreoyl and Atim Annette Oton/BDNN.
Description: This panel focuses on a review of the Culture Code by Haitian Architects, African American Architects, Disaster Experts and Interculturalists. It will look at the rebuilding of post-earthquake Haiti as an opportunity to create Haiti as the new utopia for the African Diaspora. The Culture Code is a fully documented design and development kit being constructed by Renee Kemp-Rotan who will outline the Culture Code as a comprehensive framework of 100 cultural considerations advanced across the socio-economic geography of pre-colonial, colonial, post-colonial and post-earthquake Haiti, in a way that informs all future design, development and resettlement. Panel and audience participation will review the usefulness of such a code during times of resettlement and rebuilding of post-disaster environments.
12:30pm – 1:30pm
Lunch (not provided)
1:40 pm –
PANEL 4 - Post-Earthquake Haiti as an Economic System: Rebuilding the Economy: Getting Work in Haiti
Atim Annette Oton, Co-Founder, BDNN/Moderator
Jim Paul, Director, U.S. Commercial Service, U.S. Department of Commerce, Mauricio Vera, Director, OSDBU, USAID and Renee Kemp-Rotan/BDNN.
Description: This panel focuses on ways to get work on Haiti for design professionals from the Haitian government, the US government and non-profits working in Haiti
2:50 pm -3:50 pm
BDNN Final Comments: Rebuilding International Relationships
For more details, please contact Atim Annette Oton at atim@blackdesignnews.com


