Stories Untold: Riddim of A Contemporary Creole Architecture

This thesis is about my interest in the architectural identity within the tropical region, specifically in the Caribbean on the island of Grenada. In this region, colonial and modern architecture have proliferated, often without adequately considering the local environment and its unique contexts. The people of this region have a distinct rhythm of life and a genuine appreciation of their local environment. This cultural rhythm can be seen in the annual celebration of the traditional carnival, filled with colorful costumes, jab-jab mas, and parades that bring the streets to life. The intent of this thesis is to question the current architectural typology on the island of Grenada and within the Caribbean. In this region, colonial and modern architecture have proliferated, often without properly considering the local environment and its unique contexts. There is no proper architectural representation of the indigenous people that were there before Christopher Columbus nor any references to the West African people that were brought over during the slave trade. I truly believe that it is possible to create a unique typology that is suitable for the region. There are many cultural artifacts, fabrics, folklore, and colorful festival that is associated with the people and the region. There are also traditional building techniques that can be analyzed to generate design principles that can be further implemented into new ways of constructing. How do I explore the structure and enclosure based on traditional techniques? How can these explorations resemble the intersections of the cultures within the region? A brief outline for the sequence of process would be to first, conduct historical research into the different cultural ethnicity of the diverse people on the island and look into any architectural example of the different types of structure, within the region but also specifically across the tropical region. Second, do a synthesis to compare the information collected to locate any commonality. Third, perform further design exploration on found artifacts through concept and study models. Finally, to bring all findings into a cohesive design. How can we utilize this information to create a cultural and material architectural identity by exploring connection and details