Port-au-Prince

Louisiana State University geographer Jay Dearborn Edwards has frequently addressed the relationship between Saint-Domingue (Haiti) and New Orleans building typologies by drawing on pictorial sources housed in the New Orleans Notarial Archive, the Historic New Orleans Collection and the Southeastern Architectural Archive.(1)  Late architectural historian and architect Samuel Wilson, Jr. (1911-1993) shared an interest in Saint-Domingue, an interest that is reflected in a small collection of historic photographs and research notes that may be located amid his personal papers. From what remains, Wilson was particularly interested in Cap François, the French colony's administrative capitol.  He gathered together a 1723 perspective view of the village, and translated Médéric-Louis-Elie Moreau de Saint-Méry's 1797 narrative description:

"The houses almost all have the same arrangement. There are rooms fifteen to eighteen feet square which have very high ceilings, and which have on the street a doorway between two windows, or one doorway and one window. These openings are repeated on the courtyard side where ordinarily there is a more or less wide gallery. There are lean-to sheds along the walls of this courtyard, and their division into small rooms furnishes kitchens, offices, and lodgings for the negroes."(2)

His file includes two twentieth-century photographs of structures in Port-au-Prince, one identified as "old house near cathedral" (undated, top image); the other as "Old House" (1961, lower image).

(1) See, for example his "Shotgun: The Most Contested House in America." Buildings & Landscapes XVI:1 (Spring 2009): pp. 62-96.

(2) Médéric-Louis-Elie Moreau de Saint-Méry. Description topographique, physique, civile, politique et historique de la partie francaise de l'isle Saint-Domingue. Avec des observations générales sur la population, sur le caractère & les moeurs de ses divers habitans; sur son climat, sa culture, ses productions, son administration, &c. &c. Accompagnées des détails les plus propres à faire connâitre l'état de cette colonie à l'époque du 18 octobre 1789; et d'une nouvelle carte de la totalité de l'isle. (Philadelphia, Paris, & Hamburg, 1797) Volume I, p. 300. The John Carter Brown Library's copy has been digitized and is available via the Internet Archive at: http://archive.org/details/descriptiontopog00more

Images above:  Old House Near Cathedral/Port-au-Prince, undated; & Port-au-Prince/Old House, 1961. Box 27, "Saint-Domingue," Samuel Wilson, Jr. Papers, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries.

Pearl Windows

As reported by The Times Picayune September 27, 1922:

SHELL NOW USED FOR WINDOW PANE: Porto Rican Architect Visiting Here Tells of New Light Barrier

Pearl shells from the Philippines for window openings instead of glass, is one of the striking features of the modern buildings of Porto Rico, according to Anton Nechodoma, a leading architect of San Juan, Porto Rico, who is in charge of the architectural work for the American military government in Santo Domingo. Mr. Nechodoma, who arrived in New Orleans yesterday, thinks that these shells will help solve the problem of combating the ultraviolet rays, so injurious to health in the excessive light of the Antilles.

'The Porto Rican architect has two main problems to deal with,' said Mr. Nechodoma at the St. Charles Hotel. 'Structures must be built to withstand possible earthquakes, and also be protected from the strong light. As climatic conditions cause wood and metal to deteriorate rapidly, reinforced concrete is being used exclusively for structural purposes on the island. This withstands the weather and has the best chance of resisting seismic attacks.

'In ordered to protect buildings from the light, the Bhutannesse style of architecture, which originated in India, has become the accepted type throughout Porto Rico,' continued Mr. Nechodoma. 'This style is characterized by flat roofs with wide projecting eaves which cut off much light. Then to soften the light still further within doors, the Manila pearl windows are being widely used.

'These pearls have been employed for hundreds of years in the Philippines in the place of glass, and there are many residences, churches and public buildings there which have long passed the century mark, with the original shell windows still intact. The shells improve with age because their natural iridescent lustre increases under the usual process of cleaning. The risk of breakage is negligible, on account of their toughness and resiliency, and another advantage is their low cost which does not exceed that of better grades of glass.

'The shells, which are semi-transparent, are large enough to form panes four inches square. These are soldered together to form geometrical or natural designs,' Mr. Nechodoma explained.

To read more about shell (Placuna Placenta) windows, click here.