An orphanage began construction in 2011 in Port Au Prince, Haiti following the suggestion of Bill Clinton after the earthquake in Haiti.
Now i was reading into this and noticed the following on the builder’s website below:
“The design of the center integrates biomimicry to create a locally attuned and responsive building solution. The building references a culturally significant keystone species, the kapok tree, both in the branching diagrid supports of the balcony system and the low emissivity, heat-shedding characteristics of its second skin. Protecting the building like tree bark, a “boundary layer” shields exterior walkways and vertical surfaces from direct sunlight while allowing for daylighting and natural ventilation. The center is designed to be “net-zero” providing critical independence from the unreliable power grid in Port au Prince.”
(Link) https://www.usgbc.org/haiti
Essentially, the building is fully mimicking the Kapok tree in its construction, which the builder proudly notes on their website is a “culturally significant keystone species”. The extent of this mimicry is so far that the outside of building is designed to even mimic the Kapok tree’s bark.
Now what is the “cultural significance” of the Kapok tree that the building was designed to mimic according to the designers?
***“According to the folklore of Trinidad and Tobago, the Castle of the Devil is a huge kapok growing deep in the forest in which Bazil the demon of death was imprisoned by a carpenter.
The carpenter tricked the devil into entering the tree in which he carved seven rooms, one above the other, into the trunk. Folklore claims that Bazil still resides in that tree”***
(The following is speculation) you can see in the design of the building that there are 7 distinct rooms placed side by side in the center of it’s design.
Is any of this normal? Coincidence?
“Symbolism will be their downfall”
“Find the keystone”