kirinda Project kirinda, sri lanka development team Jury statement

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Spencer Hampton
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1 Awards06Res-Planned.indd 144 7/28/08 1:04:47 PM

residential/planned CoMMunity Winner kirinda Project kirinda, sri lanka In 2004, the small fishing village of Kirinda, located on the southeast tip of Sri Lanka, was ravaged by the great Asian

2 residential/planned CoMMunity Winner kirinda Project kirinda, sri lanka In 2004, the small fishing village of Kirinda, located on the southeast tip of Sri Lanka, was ravaged by the great Asian tsunami that killed more than 225,000 people in 11 countries. The community was devastated: hundreds of villagers were killed or left homeless, and over 90 percent of the village s fishermen lost their livelihood in a single wave. After hearing of and viewing the effects of the tsunami, Philip Bay, the regional director of Colliers Southeast Europe, was compelled to act. Identifying Sri Lanka as one of the hardest-hit regions, Colliers International com- development team Developer Colliers Kirinda Trust Athens, Greece Design Architect Shigeru Ban Architects Paris, France Jury statement The Kirinda Project is one real estate company s unique humanitarian and volunteer response to the devastation suffered by one ishing village in Sri Lanka in the aftermath of the great tsunami of Colliers pooled its and its clients resources and expertise to expeditiously and effectively rebuild 50 homes, using traditional materials and methods to sensitively reestablish the village s cultural, social, and religious underpinnings. residential/planned community 145 Awards06Res-Planned.indd 145 7/28/08 1:04:48 PM

Colliers International a property company, not a nongovernmental organization (NGO) used its expertise to finance and coordinate the effort to rebuild destroyed homes in Kirinda.

3 menced discussions with the Sri Lankan government, offering to contribute its real estate expertise to the relief effort. Kirinda one of the most thoroughly devastated communities of the island nation was identified, and Colliers was asked to lead the reconstruction initiative. Colliers International a property company, not a nongovernmental organization (NGO) used its expertise to finance and coordinate the effort to rebuild destroyed homes in Kirinda. The international real estate organization engaged Paris-based architect Shigeru Ban to create the town s first master plan, which governed the sustainable reconstruction of 50 single-family homes across the village s worst-hit area. The organization approached the project and the village residents as clients, rather than as recipients of disaster relief. Many NGO relief organizations in Sri Lanka although operating with the best intentions hastily assembled concrete domiciles without input from the community or consideration of the culture and history of the inhabitants. In the worst cases, relief agencies squandered resources or skimmed donations, offering false hope to many devastated areas. At Kirinda, a number of town-hall meetings with displaced inhabitants, local government officials, 146 Best Practices in DeveloPment Awards06Res-Planned.indd 146 7/28/08 1:04:51 PM

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Cognizant of avoiding community fragmentation an unintentional byproduct of other rebuilding efforts in Sri Lanka the project constructed the new houses on the exact plots of their destroyed

5 site Plan PhOTOgRAPhS by kirinda TRUST COLLIERS INTERNATIONAL and religious leaders informed and guided the master plan. The foremost desire of the local community was to restore the original village layout and its focal point: the mosque. Cognizant of avoiding community fragmentation an unintentional byproduct of other rebuilding efforts in Sri Lanka the project constructed the new houses on the exact plots of their destroyed predecessors. Furthermore, deeds and titles were drawn up for each of the inhabitants, allowing the villagers to engage more fully in the economy by using their homes as collateral for traditional loans. Shigeru Ban, well known for his application of sustainable architecture in refugee and disaster areas elsewhere in the world, was selected to design the Kirinda project. Through research on the history of residential construction in Sri Lanka, Ban discovered little indigenous use of concrete on the island and much greater reliance on local resources, such as teak, rubber tree wood, and earthen materials. Nowadays, concrete is readily available and is the product of choice for most construction sites in Sri Lanka; however, the material retains heat a severe disadvantage in Sri Lanka s sultry climate. The design team reverted to traditional practice and used all local, sustainable products. The exterior walls of the houses were constructed with hand-pressed, sun-dried earthen blocks, 148 Best Practices in DeveloPment Awards06Res-Planned.indd 148 7/28/08 1:05:01 PM

made from a mix of sand and water, which allow the buildings to breathe in the stifling heat. Prefabricated interior wall units are made of teak purchased from a national tree farm.

6 made from a mix of sand and water, which allow the buildings to breathe in the stifling heat. Prefabricated interior wall units are made of teak purchased from a national tree farm. The simplicity of the exposed interior will make adaptation, expansion, and repair fairly straightforward, and the uniformity inherent in the design made construction very cost-effective. The use of local materials and labor also offered employment for the local people, most of whom had lost their livelihoods to the tsunami. The Kirinda Project was funded entirely by money raised at Colliers offices, including donations from employees and clients. To date, the trust has raised LKR 66.7 million (US$620,000), of which only 2 percent is consumed by administrative costs. The trust has only a single employee, the project coordinator based in Sri Lanka. The humanitarian effort relied on the skills of local architects, engineers, contractors, and project leaders to implement the master plan. Colliers Kirinda Project has become the benchmark by which other disaster relief organizations are measured. The Sri Lankan government routinely brings visiting delegations to Kirinda, using the reconstructed village as an example of best practice. Despite Colliers complete lack of experience in disaster relief, Sri Lankan officials have publicly stated that the project was the most professionally executed tsunami-relief project in the country. ProJeCt data Website Site Area 1.2 ha (3 ac) Facilities 50 single-family units Land Uses residential Start/Completion Dates June 2005 February 2007 residential/planned community 149 Awards06Res-Planned.indd 149 7/28/08 1:05:02 PM

Reset. About the Post-Tsunami Reconstruction of Onagawa Town. Lea Sophia Nagl

Reset About the Post-Tsunami Reconstruction of Onagawa Town Lea Sophia Nagl 01409379 nagl.lea@gmail.com Reset. About the Post-Tsunami Reconstruction of Onagawa Town Already fascinated by the entire local