Bill Clinton calls on Scot to rebuild Haiti

Published on Saturday 6 February 2010 19:34

FORMER US president Bill Clinton has turned to a Scottish architect to help re-build Haiti after the country's devastating earthquake.

John McAslan, who was raised in Dunoon and runs one of London's most successful architectural firms, has been personally asked by Clinton to help the shattered country.

McAslan, 55, returned from Haiti last week after a fact finding mission to see the extent of the damage.

In his first interview on the project, he told how honoured he was to be appointed by Clinton to rebuild homes, hospitals and schools in the country.

But he claimed the task was almost "unimaginable" in scale and will require the backing of governments and the United Nations for years to come.

McAslan was first brought to Clinton's attention when he designed a cheap and easy-to-build school that has proved a great success in Malawi.

Six of the schools, which can be built from scratch for 20,000, have been constructed in the African country, funded by Scots businessman Tom Hunter via his joint venture with Clinton, the Hunter Clinton Development Initiative.

Now the former president wants McAslan to oversee construction of thousands of similar cheap but earthquake proof buildings in Haiti, where Clinton, appointed by US President Barack Obama, is playing a leading role in raising millions of pounds of finance.

But McAslan does not just serve Third World countries. His practice has become one of the most successful in the UK, carrying out work across the globe. Current commissions include the rebuilding of London's famous Smithfield Market and redevelopment of the Grade 1 listed King's Cross Station. It has recently completed the new British Embassy building in Algiers, with the modernist design winning McAslan's firm the coveted World Architect of the Year prize from trade publication Building Design.

McAslan said: "I have met Mr Clinton in the past due to my work in Malawi, and I was invited by him to play a part in the rebuilding efforts in Haiti. I did not need to be asked twice.

"I had already been to Haiti and had been working with the government there to try and conserve the built heritage of the country. That was before the earthquake, and now, of course, the country has to be virtually rebuilt from scratch. I have a great love for Haiti and was impressed by the people there. Their strength and resilience in the face of this disaster is humbling."

His visit last week had shown him just how big the task was.

"It (the damage] is unimaginable in scale," he said.

"A third of homes have been destroyed. You have three quarters of a million children with no school. There are areas with no hospitals, no government buildings. Nothing.

"For now, I am getting a pilot project off the ground to get schools built. These can act as a classroom, as a community focal point, as a meeting place."

McAslan has also proposed rebuilding the worst-affected parts of the capital, Port-au-Prince, on flat ground outside the existing city boundaries.

One is the suburb of Ptionville, which is on the deforested hillsides to the south-east of the capital. He said: "The shacks have all collapsed, one on top of the other. It could be an idea to rebuild outside the existing city on flat ground."

The scale of the disaster has shed new light on the problem of shoddy building in the impoverished Caribbean nation.

As many as 150,000 are feared dead after being crushed or trapped by buildings that collapsed in the earthquake.

"It was sub-standard construction. There aren't any building codes as we would recognise them," said McAslan.

Even before the quake, Haiti's building safety record was poor. Almost 100 people – mostly children – died when two schools collapsed within days of each other in November 2008. Haitian authorities blamed poor construction.

Ironically, people living in the shanty towns might have had a better chance of survival than those trapped under concrete buildings. "A simple shack's collapse is likely to cause less damage than a multi-floor building that collapses," McAslan said.

He said the main task for the authorities now was to clear away the destroyed buildings, then to stabilise damaged buildings so they could withstand any aftershocks, and finally, to assess how to create buildings that could reasonably withstand another earthquake.

The Haitian prime minister, Jean-Max Bellerive, said last month that his government was "ready to relaunch the country on the path to reconstruction" but the US government has warned against rebuilding poor quality homes.

The Haiti rebuilding project is one of the biggest tasks ever faced by McAslan, who studied Architecture at Edinburgh University before going on to found his London-based practice.

It is his role in Haiti, however, that will be taking up most of the spare time of the Greenock Morton supporter for the foreseeable future.

He said: "I think it is important to give something back to society, and that is what I am trying to do. The staff at my firm are also tremendous, contributing time and talent for free.

"It will be time well-spent, but it might be a while till I get to see Morton again."