project detail

As part of the restoration and enhancement of five heritage monuments in the south of Haiti, the project aims to restore and showcase the Forteresse des Platons, located in the highlands overlooking the Plaine des Cayes, on the foothills of Macaya National Park, the country’s second largest mountain massif.

The fortress was part of the unfinished defensive system ordered by General Dessalines after independence, in response to the threat that the French army might attempt to reconquer the territory. The defensive concept ordered by Dessalines was to fortify the mountains, and this Platons fort, together with the Citadelle complex in the north, are the most notable examples of this system.

The project, developed in collaboration with local heritage architect Daniel Elie, called for the restoration of the fortress’s main elements — its bastions and the redoute — and laid out a visitor itinerary, following the identification of pathologies and using conservative restoration measures.

The August 2021 earthquake destroyed the fortress, leaving only the ruins of its bastions and walls just before construction was set to begin, and the works were suspended.