Housing types for the first plantation workers in the Caribbean: 19th and early 20th century

Abstract

This article is part of a research project on housing for early workers on sugarcane and banana plantations in the Caribbean. The study aims to explore the earliest housing typologies practiced in the Caribbean, specifically in Cuba and the Dominican Republic, from the 18th century to the second decade of the 20th century. We provide an overview from the earliest bateys to the new proposals for prefabricated wooden houses sold from the United States to the emerging Caribbean market.

In the Caribbean, housing for sugarcane and banana plantations was initially used to house the slave population and later for administrative purposes, consecutively for day laborers and workers. By the 19th century, new barrack structures were developed. This research is based on documentary material, books, magazines, and writings by architects, historians, doctoral theses, as well as images that aided in the interpretation of the text.

We believe the article provides a clear understanding of the architectural proposals implemented in the Caribbean to house the working class, which later served as an example to follow in the Lesser Antilles.