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| Rest and relaxation areas for staff and students across campus. Roof in the thatched tradition is depicted here, but lost in most residential dwellings. The Fijian roof and resting places are good examples of the marriage of indigenous technologies in a contemporary age. The materials and the height of the roof keep the area cool and breezy. |
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| The main campus library. Note the towering palms and the open louvered windows. There is no air-conditioning. The building also has cyclone shutters for the stormy season. |
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| Move inland to higher ground - away from this picturesque picnic pit - in case of Tsunami. In Trinidad and Tobago, it is common to see assembly area signs in communities in case of earthquake; however, the hazard that places Fiji at risk is cyclonic activity and, it seems, seismic sea waves. Comparing the Environmental Vulnerability Index (EVI) of TT and Fiji, the former is "extremely vulnerable" while the latter is "highly vulnerable". Fiji's vulnerability, according to the EVI comes from cyclones, landslides, and isolation, amongst other things. Click here for more information on the EVI. |
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| The Administrative building is, according to Kara a friendly custodian, the seat of the Vice Chancellor and other important offices. The building is stunning in its integration with the natural surroundings. This waterfall feature allows rain waters to flow into a rock-garden just in front of the building's main entrance. In the photo below, you can see that the building welcomes with cascading bougainvillea , and tightly woven vines have overtaken the concrete in many places, thereby camouflaging much of the brutalist architecture with nature's own assertive tendencies. The effect is a tropical "ivy league" version of the highest feelings of academic capacity, where both students and their infrastructure feel as imperative to the sense of place, history, and future of the Pacific, as the natural landscape. |
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