Spirit seeks to introduce alternative economic activities into the interior of Suriname. Its twin aims are to stimulate employment and to expand the limited infrastructure and network of amenities so as to make the interior region more manageable and secure. The design constructs a village around a clinic. A combination of Winti medicine and Western psychotherapy offers Afro-Surinamers living in Suriname and elsewhere a place where they can regain their physical health or mental equilibrium under professional conditions. Apart from the clinic the village consists of a centre of research and learning, a first aid post, an exhibition gallery, places for rituals - Dansi (dance), Watra (water), Faya (fire) - a meadow, a herb garden, houses for visitors and employees, a hotel and accommodation for the supportive programme.

The organizing factor here is the wind. It cools the village by means of wind passages, open rows in the forest trained on the prevailing wind directions. The new structure of the settlement comprises three layers: the existing precious canopy of trees, a new layer of infrastructure with a thoroughfare and expediently routed ring roads, and the new layer of wind passages encompassing the larger public spaces. These add up to a clearly structured scheme with a diversity of places that succeed one another in a natural way. All further development will depend on how the future users experience the village. The buildings and places are threaded together along walking routes in a necklace of activities and impressions.

The wind aspect also influences the form of the buildings. Asymmetric wall openings in the houses encourage optimum wind movement inside and a vertical channel keeps the interior cool at night through its 'chimney effect'. The entire village enjoys a self-supporting energy and water system that makes use of solar energy, biomass and creek water.

The growth model shows the evolution from a single building to a full-scale settlement. Building forms become increasingly specific as the plan progresses. This in contrast to the multifunctionality of the first buildings on site.

In Spirit the main contributory factor is Winti, which literally means wind. Winti influences the way of life and way of worship among Afro-Surinamers. Likewise, the wind determines both the layout and the architecture of the settlement. As both force and spirit of nature, the wind acts as a guideline for developing ways of living and working in the interior regions of Suriname, of achieving greater spiritual depth and, if indirectly, of lightening the burden of the country's capital Paramaribo.

Place of education: AvB Rotterdam
Specialization: architecture
Tutors: Menno Homan, Frank Pörtzgen, Dennis Moet