Urban Education

It's funny because every time I hear someone speak about The University of The West Indies, it's always a "steups" or a "sigh, that place yes!" The University of the West Indies St Augustine campus is one of three Campuses around the Caribbean. This campus was established in 1960, and the Trinidad and Tobago nationals have the privilege of enjoying free education at all levels (which is amazing by the way.) The university serves 18 English speaking countries and the aim of the university was to help "unlock the potential for economic and cultural growth" in the West Indies, thus allowing for improved regional autonomy.

In this post, I use UWI as a platform to speak about Urban Education, or the education system on the whole, as although the education at the university is free, many individuals do not reach that level in education. In a study done by University of Michigan, urban schools tend to at a disadvantage especially to the children that are attending the schools. Inequalities in education exist from the textbooks provided to the teacher qualifications which in turn affects the quality of education that inner-city children receive. People are being segregated by social class and the impoverished population is not getting the same educational opportunities as their more privileged counterparts.

Providing education that is both high in quality and fair to all is one of the greatest challenges facing cities today. This concentration prepares students for careers in educational policy and practice. One major problem with this is that low-income urban parents and families tend to not to see education as being extremely important and do not play an active role in helping their children acquire an education. An education takes away from the roles and responsibilities youths have to fulfil at home.

So while education is free in Trinidad and Tobago, many people do not get to that level.

A Picture Tells A Thousand Words

I don't even think a blog is necessary for this picture. It is so self explanatory.

It's 10:08 PM on a Tuesday night, under some trees on the Promenade, sitting four to a table, these men are playing cards, smoking, talking and interacting. There's no laptop, there's no cellular phone, no technology. Just personal time spent with good friends. Maybe even strangers that have many things in common. This is the essence of the city. The picture speaks of the city and the culture of the city so well. 

Lewis Mumford (1938), in his study The Culture of Cities, speaks about the city being the form and symbol of an integrated social relationship: it is the seat of the temple, the market, the hall of justice and the academy of writing. Here in the city, the goods of civilisation are multiplied and manifolded, here is where human experience is transformed into visible signs, symbols, patterns of conduct, system of order. 

This picture says "I'm home. I'm comfortable." Public Space seems to inspire virtue in several forms: civic pride, social contact, especially form people of diverse backgrounds; a sense of freedom and finally, common sense."

Sharon Zukin (1995, 42) says "the city remains a theatre for 'mingling with strangers.'" The effect is the evolution of a shared citizenship across the urban spectrum - class, gender, ethnic and sexual - constructed around the everyday social confidence that comes from individuals and communities making use of the right to access a public space shared with others." 

Public Spaces are "the primary sites of public culture: they are the window into a city's soul... Public spaces are important because they are places where strangers mingle feely... As both site and sight, meeting place and social staging ground, public spaces enable us to conceptualise and represent the city - to make an ideology of its receptivity to strangers, tolerance of difference and opportunities to enter a fully socialised life, both civic and commercial." 

Everyday street life, different, simple interactions like this one makes up the shared public culture. Places where people are free and places we all can enjoy. 

Whether we like playing cards, smoking, or just enjoying the ambiance; it's ours to enjoy.

Zukin, Sharon. The Culture of Cities.  Cambridge: Blackwell Publishers, 1995. 

The Spaceship? Wait, that's NAPA.

I remember when this building first went into construction. I went to school opposite to the new construction site and everyday my friends and I would try to guess exactly what this 'structure' was going to be. It looked like a huge metal spider, or maybe it was supposed to be a spaceship. 

"But why build one? Don't those things just land somewhere?" I remember my best friend asking once :/  

It definitely looked like something straight out of a horror movie. Right in Trinidad and Tobago. Much to our disappointment, we were all wrong.

The National Academy of the Performing Arts or NAPA as we locals know it is the first of its kind in Trinidad. It is described as "the permanent home for the development of talent in the performing arts." The Urban Development Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (UDeCOTT). The architectural design is supposed to be reminiscent of the national flower of Trinidad and Tobago, the Chaconia. (Okay, so it isn't a spaceship.) Designed to fit 1500, with state of the art lighting and sound systems, NAPA also comes equipped with a hotel for visiting performers and students. 

Who even designs buildings like these? Apparently many people around the world do! 

An iconic design is usually one that is 'ground breaking' and one that sets new standards in its field. It is a design that other designers and manufactures follow, as it becomes a bench mark for other similar products. Furthermore, an iconic design is one that stands up to the test of time, remaining a good design, despite the passing of years, decades and even centuries.

I think that this theory is definitely applicable to Trinidad in terms of NAPA. We see that the architects and contractors behind this "spaceship" specifically designed NAPA to look like the national flower of Trinidad and Tobago. This does wonders for the locals (those that actually know what the design is supposed to be). This gives us a sense of feeling and belonging to the buildings. It is our own, designed specifically for us to enjoy, to utilise and to love. 

In my opinion NAPA can be classified as Iconic architecture; although we are yet to see the design withstand the test of many decades (but I have faith that my spaceship will). While NAPA may not be like anything we may see in London or Dubai or more economically developed countries, it can be classified as 'iconic' on our own scale. "The rising occurrences of these image-making and tourism attracting capacities of this iconic building may have been viewed as successful in transitioning the city's image from declining and de-industrialising to being a global tourism destination and cultural centre." (Barrett and Hall 2012, 205)

NAPA is definitely an essence. At night, the building illuminates so beautifully leaving all in awe. Our own iconic building that we love. 

Naturally, everyone would understand why I thought this was a spaceship of some sort.

PS. All photos taken by yours truly :)

The two articles below give a different side to the concept of "iconic architecture." Very interesting to read because it is a parallel view to what Hall and Barrett showed us. 

Trying to Hard?

Iconic Architecture Does Not Equal A Great City

Tim Hall and Heather Barrett, Urban Geography, 4th ed. (Abingdon: Routledge 2012) 204 - 206.

Why Cities Need Iconic Buildings? Michael Maltzan

The City Life.

View of The Twin Towers from Hyatt

Saturday the 22nd March 2014. It's a beautiful day in Port of Spain. The sun is shining, there is not a grey could in the sky. It's a perfect day. The normal hustle and bustle of the central business district is what I fully enjoy. It feels like 100 degrees outside and I love it. First stop: The Waterfront. Filled with palm trees, high rise buildings, so many tourists (still recovering from Carnival), it's a beautiful sight. Port of Spain has come such a long way. Especially this establishment that Trinidadians are extremely proud of. I honestly cannot even remember what here looked like before, nor do I want to imagine that. It's a beautiful mixture of public and private space. Looking out into the ocean's mystery, you can see the Tobago Ferry, Cruise ships coming to and fro our nation's waters. It is described by UDECOTT as "the new hallmark of an ever-evolving Port of Spain - a city already established as a significant regional centre for trade, commerce and industry." Home to the infamous Breakfast Shed, many people enjoy the amazing local dishes sold there on a daily basis, while being serenaded by the magnificent scenery that the Hyatt brings. Natural beauty infused with brilliant infrastructure.The Port of Spain International Waterfront Centre

After visiting the Hyatt, we left The Waterfront and ventured to the first known suburb in 

Port of Spain; Belmont, a city rich with history. We met with our tour guide, Mr. Elton Scanterberry, and he took us in and around Belmont. The name Belmont was given to an area close to the police station by governor Hislop (1802 - 1830) after his property in England. The name Belmont at the time meant absolutely nothing to the inhabitants of the area. African inhabitants referred to Belmont as  "Free Town."

As we walked through Belmont, a strong sense of community was felt, which many blame on the fact that the houses are so close together, so it is something you can't get away from. The first major stop we made was to visit the Trinidad Theatre Workshop, a community outreach theatre to encourage more young ones to get in touch with their artistic side and spend less time on the streets. There we met Tyker Phillip, who teaches classes at the Theatre workshop. She explained to us how beneficial it was living in Belmont as it was so close to Port of Spain. She said that everything with simply within her reach especially as she lived and worked there. She said that there are no community based facilities that the young (something she longed for) could use so they resort to the savannah. She mentioned that there are different areas in Belmont that are considered to be "high crime areas" but that not everyone is involved or exposed to these activities. Life in Belmont was pretty nice for Tyker although she knows about some people who did have it hard.

A Picture of the Trinidad Theatre Workshop in Belmont

After leaving the Trinidad Theatre Workshop, we proceeded to a private cemetery site for the Rada religion. Radaism has been in Trinidad since 1668 and the bodies at the cemetery belong to those of the early Rada practitioners.  Brief History on Radaism in Trinidad

Our day exploring Port of Spain and Belmont was a success!

All of the Lights!

Where do I begin? For my blog I wanted to do something a little bit different. So i decided to look at the city and its environs at night. I feel like night time is when things come alive and when the fun really starts. To be honest, I got my inspiration and the idea of lights and bright lights from two of Kanye West's songs; Flashing Lights (blog name) and All of The Lights. So upon listening to those songs, I said that it would be perfect to look at the city at night, from the architecture, the city life to anything at all that lights up and is extremely exciting at night. 

For my first post, I went to Independence Square AKA the heart of Port of Spain and what we would refer to as Port of Spain proper. Independence Square is home to one of the busiest, most successful KFC fast food outlets in the world (thats pretty amazing!) You could go to the KFC on Independence Square at 4 AM and you are guaranteed fresh, hot, tasty chicken. Independence Square is also home to a very big maxi taxi stand. So at any given time, many people are always in and out from that spot. Filled with many cars, many people just chilling, having a couple beers, playing cards, and many many lights, I thought this was a perfect example of what I am trying to encompass with my blog.

Turn up the lights in here baby! Extra bright I want you all to see this!

Cop lights, flashlights, spotlights, strobe lights, street lights, ALL of the lights!

Enjoy,

Maya.