UA Students Design Villages for Heifer International

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Work on a "real world" project has exposed University of Arkansas students to Third World realities such as outdoor plumbing and subsistence gardening.

In just four weeks, 43 landscape architecture and interior design students designed eight villages for Heifer International's new Global Village 2 near Perryville, Ark, which will offer two- to three-day educational experiences to the general public beginning in 2005

As the students developed structures ranging from Mongolian yak hair yurts to a typical low-income home from the Mississippi Delta region of the United States, they were challenged to research and interpret cultures that struggle with poverty and hunger. Last weekend, several of the students braved wet weather to experience three diverse cultures at Global Village 2. They cooked over an open fire pit, made muddy repairs to a wattle-and-daub hut, and tended goats, chickens, pigs, rabbits, turkeys, a calf and a donkey.

"It was interesting to see things through another perspective, and experience what it's like to live in a developing country," said Jeanette Wilson, a third-year landscape architecture student. "It took so long to cook dinner!" The students labored for an hour and a half to produce a simple meal of vegetables and fufu, a type of cornmeal mush that's a staple in Africa. More rewarding for the students was seeing their design work realized.

"It was wonderful seeing our two-dimensional designs transformed into three-dimensional reality," said Pam Roark, a third-year landscape architecture student.

"The villages were pretty close to what we envisioned, if not better," said Wilson. "They did a really good job building our designs."

"The project appealed to me because it was extremely effective in provoking global awareness in our students," said Laurie Fields an assistant professor of landscape architecture. "It has never been so easy to get our students to do library research - they were very excited by what they were learning."

Work began last fall, when students researched settlement patterns, climate, housing types and agricultural practices of countries in eight regions where Heifer International provides economic support. Following many hours of library time and a visit to the site, eight interdisciplinary teams developed interpretive villages consisting of five buildings, an agricultural field or garden, and animal enclosures.

In working out the master plan, the students carefully sited villages to limit views to other installations and provide smooth transitions between diverse cultures. For example, the Mississippi Delta and Mongolian villages will share a rice field. For each village, students developed levels of housing to reflect economic strata. In Mozambique, for example, concrete-block houses shelter higher income families, while poorer families live in wattle-and-daub huts with straw roofs. Although interior photographs for some areas were hard to come by, the students worked diligently to reproduce the material culture of each country, conjuring up the interior of a Myanmar hut, for example, with sheeted walls, straw mats, and a Buddhist shrine.

Marie Gentry, an associate professor of interior design, said: "In many of these countries, people are living in the most basic forms of shelter. It was an eye-opening experience for our students to design at the subsistence level, when they more typically focus on pleasing clients through good design that meets wants and needs."

"The students learned that the lifestyle in these countries is more holistic and potentially more sustainable," Fields added. "For example, they used materials that were readily available to build their homes, whether it was grass for the thatched roof of the Mozambique hut or an old school bus used for shelter in the Mississippi Delta region."

At the end of the semester, each team presented their ideas to their professors and Heifer International representatives with a series of design boards that documented site analysis and design, a variety of building types and plans, construction techniques and materials, sketches of interiors, exteriors, and significant details, and a concept statement.

"We went into this feeling optimistic that the student work would serve as a springboard for a professional firm," said Stephanie Houser Fouse, supervisor of the Global Village. "Their work was so excellent that we were able to use what they gave us, which is great! It was a good partnership for us."

"We probably saved Heifer International six months of work with this four-week studio," Fields said.

Heifer International plans to open Global Village 2 to press representatives this weekend. A group of approximately 50 youths and adults associated with the Youth Advocacy Council of the Arkansas Community Foundation will participate in the daily life of Mongolia, Mozambique and the Mississippi Delta. For more information on the Global Village experience visit Heifer's web site at www.heifer.org/Learn/Global_Villages/.

Landscape architecture student Clayton Turley milks a goat while Heifer facilitator Chad Sievers looks on.

(left to right) Jeanette Wilson, Clayton Turley and Miguel Valdez inspect the school bus shelter in the Mississippi Delta region of Global Village 2

Student site plan for Ghana village