Cody: “Today Abby and myself had the wonderful opportunity to visit our site. The LaConcorde Orphanage is a story about survival. The original building was a 2-storey structure that housed the orphanage and a classroom; this was completely destroyed by the earthquake on January 12, 2010. The director (Frantz Bastien) and his mother were left to rebuild the center. Mama Bastien stayed on the site throughout the hardest of times, with zero shelter to ensure the safety and health of her children. The site has since been given three transitional shelters and many tarps. We are going to be designing a new structure to house the education and orphanage in ~2600sf.
The thing that has struck me the most through this experience is the bright attitude and positivity of the family and the children. I am truly humbled at how this group has persevered through extreme adversity. In the following six weeks we will be working with the family, children and our design fellows to create a sensible solution for this very deserving group.”
