Hey ,

Three years down, and I am almost getting used to writing these year-in-reviews. 2024 has been a year of learning by doing; transitioning our energies from ideation to execution and sustaining that energy throughout delays and setbacks. 

Organization

Last year we focused our attentions on long-term planning recognizing the need for a strategic approach to advance our mission of democratizing the production of space in Caribbean cities. In 2024, we established volunteer committees that have guided our research & publications and eventually our design & initiatives. We are humbled, and greatly appreciate the time and effort our committees have taken in this process of defining and refining Island City Lab. This is a living process, we are learning as we go and are excited to build on the collective expertise, experience and passion of our committees. 

Initiatives

In 2024, we advanced engagement and design for two neighbourhood-scale civic infrastructure projects aimed at advancing green infrastructure and promoting more decentralized solid waste management processes.

In collaboration with Arup, and Day & Day Company, we have completed the landscape master plan at the Abilities Foundation, a school for children with intellectual and physical disabilities. This project is rooted in principles of universal accessibility for the students and aims to mitigate the flooding experienced on campus after the expansion of Constant Spring Road by rethinking ‘green spaces’ as green infrastructure (GI).

In collaboration with Erle Rahaman-Noronha (Wa Samaki Ecosystems) & Jenn Ward (Caribbean Permaculture Research Institute) we have been approved for our update to the HEART/NSTA Trust’s landscape curriculum which embeds GI and permaculture principles into the program. Once completed, the curriculum will be recognized by all vocational training institutions in the English-speaking Caribbean, we are excited about the regional implications of this work. Another exciting output of this project has been spatial data which helps us understand the potential of GI. Later this year we will be setting up a data portal on our website to share this data freely.

Participatory Solid Waste Management in Cassava Piece is a process of generating solutions in collaboration with community, this project is possible with support from the re:arc institute.

Forums

In 2024, we continued our partnership with the Caribbean School of Architecture Student Association and hosted the Emerging Practice Lecture Series. We featured three Caribbean practices from Jamaica, Haiti, and Trinidad and explored how the Caribbean’s unique context influenced their designs and business. In March, we reconnected with Cruz and Natalie at WAI Think Tank for Session 49 of Loudreaders, where we discussed the politics and poetics of infrastructure in Kingston.

Later in the year, our summer series Capturelands : The Political Economy of Land and Housing in the Caribbean explored the colonial foundations of property and how those foundations have continued to impact people’s ability to access dignified housing and land for livelihoods. 

Expanding our network, we participated in several conferences across the region. In Trinidad, we attended the NBS Engrossed Workshop, as well the Caribbean Water and Wastewater Association’s annual conference where we presented on our solid waste management project. In the Dominican Republic we attended and presented at the Caribbean Urban Forum. At Arquitecturas de buen vivir planetario 2.0 in Bogota, we reflected on contextual-process based solutions with artists, community organizers, and architects based across South America and the Caribbean.  

YOUTUBE: Disaster Capitalism in the Caribbean Region Workshop: ReImagining & Decolonizing

Locally, we braved the winds of Hurricane Beryl to join our partners at the Stronger Together Caribbean Network- a coalition united against the interconnected threats of climate change, disaster capitalism, and food insecurity. Lastly, we worked with CB Facey Foundation as the technical liaison and moderator for the Maurice Facey Lecture Series that featured Enrique Penalosa as keynote.

Cement Factory, Karl Paraboosingh

Provision Grounds Journal

Early this year, we published The Road You've Trod, Delia Ferguson's reflection on car dependency in New Providence, Bahamas. In particular, she focuses on the Gladstone Road Improvement Project a controversial road expansion that is expected further expand car-dependency on the island.

We revisited our 2023 contribution to Wai Think Tank’s ‘Loudreading’ series, where we traced a narrative and political history of infrastructure in Kingston, Jamaica in our article Propaganda and Infrastructure of Brand Jamaica, published on e-flux Architecture magazine. We delved deeper into this topic in an interview with Discovery an online publication by the Cultural Counsel.

Finally, In conjunction with our captureland series we published three in-depth interviews with activist and community leaders in Barbuda, Puerto Rico and Jamaica about innovative and inspiring housing and land solutions.  

Now more than ever, Caribbean cities need an entire ecosystem of practice working to expand access to the city for all. We are energized about building with you – thank you again for your collaboration. Stay tuned to more updates on ways to get involved. 

Dorraine Duncan

Executive Director

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Volunteer members from Cassava Piece Youth Club

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