Co-Sponsored by the Conway School of Landscape Design and the Landscape Institute of Harvard University

This 18-day design/build adventure will focus on building an entrance to a unique community organized eco-tourism destination called Damajagua Falls, where 27 cascades plummet between 30-foot high stone walls. The design challenge is to help maximize the experience for tourists who visit by creating a new entrance to the visitor’s center. The class begins with a group design process culminating in a single design emanating from the collective ideas of the participants. The remainder of the course is an intensive sprint to build what has been designed, utilizing local, environmentally appropriate materials, while allowing the design and building processes to continually inform one another. This class will take place in a rural part of the Dominican Republic; with rustic lodging, limited or no electricity, lots of nature, and tons of hard work. It will be the experience of a lifetime. Tuition includes travel within the Dominican Republic, camping facilities in wall tents, and all meals. Intermediate to Professional.

About Damajagua Falls

The twenty-seven waterfalls have existed for millennia but were only recently discovered by the outside world. Wading through crystal clear water with smooth natural stone under foot and jungle foliage growing up 30-ft. walls on either side, you get the feeling that this is the original water park. Thirty minutes west of Puerto Plata, through the cane fields and along a rough river bed, you come to the trail that takes you through the jungle to the base of the 27 waterfalls of Damajagua.

About the Community

The first tourists began arriving at the Falls in 1994, and little by little, word got out about this amazing natural treasure and spawned a guiding industry for the local young men. In 1998, the local guides made a dramatic cooperative decision to officially formalize their association in to the AGRD, the Association of Guides of Rio Damajagua. The cooperative has taken some unique steps to make this natural wonder a great experience and a community-based resource that benefits many of the local communities. In 2005 the guides created a co-management agreement with the Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources to regulate and protect the Rio Damajagua Natural Monument. The accord, unlike any other in the country, provides a portion of every entrance fee directly to the surrounding community for local development projects. Through this agreement, the guide association has assured that the community will now become a major stakeholder in the future of its own natural wonder.

For more information:
View a slideshow describing the 2009 class

and visit the tour operator's site:
http://www.4tdomrep.com

View a slideshow from the 2008 class:
http://bergmandesignteam.com/drdb2008/index.htm

View a slideshow from the 2007 class:
http://bergmandesignteam.com/drdb2007/index.htm

126 Learning Units