Chinee Chinee Worker Worker Look dem Look dem

How does a Chinee screw? - Like a sewing machine


The Chinese on a major construction in Port of Spain, Trinidad

If ever you want to know what makes a country a power house, just come down at noon, from Monday - Sunday and have a look at the work ethics of these Chinese construction workers in their blue overhauls and yellow hard hats.These men are from the Shanghai Construction Group International, and an estimated figure of 100 workers are on site over the construction of the Academies for the Performing Arts. A building that is costing US$100.000.000 dollars.

From a street that was empty, with no cars, no school, they just appeared, from nowhere and marched across Keate Street. But something was quite different here. They looked tick as if all of dem just bustup some good old Tani blue food. Provisions with stew salt fish, dumplings, calaloo and plantain, plus a big bottom woman on de side for dem nice looking ones.


The view of a very complex structure built by the Chinese facing the Queen's Park Savannah

Church of Magnificence

Copyright © 2009 Richard Bolai
A evangelical church build without fanfare, Trinidad West Indies

It is by all means a masterwork of architecture that graces a part of Diego Martin, Trinidad and Tobago. The building reflects the aesthetic beauty found in no other part of the hemisphere. It is a national icon and an architectural feat that places it as the tenth wonder of the world peeking way over the Great Wall of China and the Taj Mahal. At the 2009, the International Society of Civil Engineers debated over its construction and hailed it as a marvel of perfection. Bringing those four walls together took a measure of precision and by a work force that was estimated to be in the tens of thousands. Scores of site seekers have flocked to see it.


A wrought iron gates with the words, Church of God embedding in its frame. It is the most ornate part of the structure.

This church was completed with the help of an evangelical mission who were seen on the site during its construction. This may be its final appearance, but more likely it is the inside that truly counts for those early Sundays come rain or shine. No attempt is made to debate over its functionality thus preventing otherwise the faithful from being exposed God's natural elements while sitting in a tent.

New York, Paris, London, Tokyo, Port of Spain - Corner Bar

Corner Bar at the corner of Gatacre Street and Ariapita Avenue in Woodbrook, Port of Spain, Trinidad with the owner, Christopher Leacock relining on one of his imported sofas

After two years in the works and having a deep perseverance to see it complete, Christopher Leacock has renovated the old Rodriguez’s grocery at Ariapita Avenue into an ultra modern yet classic lounging bar. The open space is painted in a Tiffany blue and accessorised with furniture and lamps that have a Norwegian look. The outdoor courtyard is designed with accents toward a Japanese garden. The interior is complemented by a floor finish which Leacock describes as acidified and fixed with a resin.


Che Lovelace's painting of a man with a coat and umbrella and a painted table by the graffiti artist, MANF.

Corner Bar has also required the works of Che Lovelace and the graffiti artist MANF. Lovelace's work is taken from an album cover, yet there are traces of Peter Doig's influences resonating with it. While MANF's graffiti work is used as patterns to cover parts of the wall and as individualised tables.

Rodriguez’s grocery at Ariapita Avenue being renovated to Corner Bar

Leacock explains that his concept is basically a local Rum shop with high amenities. And with these amenities, Corner bar is multi-functional which offers a taste of a music lounge bar's atmosphere which can be matched anywhere in places such as New York, Paris, London or Tokyo.




Learn more about Corner Bar

Boissiere House 1904 - 2008

Gingerbread house is in the fate of its buyer



Behind a galvanize fence, is one of the great homes located at Queen's Park West, Trinidad, West Indies. Built in 1904 by the architect Eward Bowen, part of the ceiling is covered with a fresco designed by an Italian artisan according to Voices in the street, a handbook detailing the history of architecture in Trinidad and Tobago. But recently, a For Sale sign has been posted on the fence instigating rumors of what the building is worth in historic terms. So far, the asking price has been rumored to be six to sixty million dollars. Some architects think it is worth more.



The danger preservationists insists is that saving such a structure will be a battle, and the public uproar may only occur after, like many historic buildings in Port of Spain when bulldozers have come in the dead of the night to clear it off the ground.

Above: The detail of the fret as part of the roof and the wrought iron gate damaged by a car crashing into the wall.

The road to a new city

Only we to blame for a Capital with no character


Standing on shaky grounds, St. Clair, Trinidad.

It is a trend that seems to be happening and no one really cares. One day you see an old colonial house, then the next day it has vanished leaving behind a large empty dirt plot. This is what architects proclaim as progress at the will of their clients in the name of boxed steel and glass. Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad and Tobago is changing in front of our very eyes and the conservationists who should be protecting these historic buildings seem less to care as the capital is beginning to lose its Caribbean quaintness.

Public paintings n° 171

This by all means this is a dilapidated building in St. James, Trinidad West Indies. Thousands of people pass by it everyday but do they ever consider it as a work of Art?

From the flakes of paint n° 171 is an old wooden colonial building that shows the beauty in its composition, in its tones of tortoise and gray blue which has been weathered by the Caribbean sky.

Old Years at SWWTU

I storming it

This large facade that faces Wrightson Road, Port of Spain is the Seamen and Waterfront Workers Trade Union (SWWTU). The tiled and seamless mosaic illustrates a streamliner entering the Port of the Capital. It is one of the most recognized signs of a period when Trinidad and Tobago had great vision for her future.

But in less then 48 hours, just beyond this building, to the SWWTU hall, couples will be dressed up in their best garb to ring in the New Year to 2008. May the nation show compassion towards its people.

Storming a fete : Many years ago, one of the local newspapers captured the backside of a woman skimming over a wall. From the photograph it was clear that this was an important venue to attend. She wore a lovely evening dress with large clog shoes.

A draftsman's dream

Where to plant de apple tree Mr. Prime Minster?

The artist behind this masterpiece has taken his cue from Frank O. Gehry to match his design of the Guggenheim museum in Spain. This version is the schematic painting of a house to be built or which already has on the streets of Port of Spain.

The draftsman has taken his time to ensure that the calculations of the building is precise at every angle. However, there is a steep incline to the car port. The artist may be incapable of finding the infinity point where his perspective has been skewed, but it is his patients with the outlines that brings the very best of his penmanship.

It should be noted that the aesthetics in architecture in Trinidad and Tobago has shifted to accommodate the trends in homes designed for colder climates. The finest example may be the new residence to the Prime Minster in its garishness and taste that lacks anything other than Caribbean. It a sample where architects foresee profit over the aesthetics of a place, and where owners are inadequate in their identity.

A wall painting for a hardware store, Barataria, Trinidad, W. I

Lion House - Interpretation

As a child, where I read
On a street wall in Chaguanas Trinidad, students from the Saraswati Hundi Girls school have painted the Lion House to the best of their ability. The building is an historic site to the indenture Indians in Trinidad and Tobago.

Build by hand by Pundit Capildeo in 1924, and completed two years later, Pundit Capildeo is the grandfather to the British writer, V.S. Naipaul. The author has characterized the building in his book, A house Mr.Biswas. (1962) The archways and pillars that support the upper floor may have been borrowed from seeing the work of the Annunciation by Fra Angelico.

V.S. Naipaul is considered the greatest writer towards the latter part of the Twentieth Century. His command for the English language, and nuances of it use shows a skill that reminds us that simplicity and correct usage of a word can transport the reader to the writer's place of thought.

A wall painting of the Lion House, in Chaguanas Trinidad,

Unexplained symmetry - Tajmahal

King of the World to a fallen Queen

It is and shall remain a structure of unexplained symmetry and beauty which instills the human heart. Constructed from 1631-53, the Taj Mahal stands on the bank of River Yamuna in Agra, India. It is mausoleum to honour Mumtāz Mahal, the wife of Shah Jahan. Her body and that of her husband are interred in the white ornate marble enclosure.

Capturing the heart of the living

In its symmetry, geometric patterns and filigree carvings, what is clear is that architects, mathematicians and artisans where able to draw on patterns in stimulate the human mind. A simple test of closing your eyes would induce overlapping patterns of shimmering black and white shapes. They are distorted yet uniform as a grid. May this be the key of the Taj Mahal's beauty? Or is there more?

There has been debate over the origins of the Taj Mahal, what is known is that it has its root to Islamic architecture. But in all, it speaks of a underling unseen presence and that is of what it was conceived from; Beholden love. The core of its truth. No other man-made structure in the world has equaled it.

Shah Jehan, between the earth and heavens, ruler of the Mughal Empire in the Indian from 1628-1658 and the architect behind the Taj Mahal.

From the watercolor drawing of the Taj Mahal above, it appears to take the shape of a seated Buddha.

Grandstand - The end of the Big Yard

A new bed may not rock as sweet
The history of the Queen's Park Savannah and its
Grandstand goes as far back as 1947. The horse racing stand has a earlier history from 1897, but the 1947 structure has been the venue for Trinidad and Tobago's major ceremonial events and the centre stage of its Carnival.

The photograph to your left depicts the demise of the Grandstand, and beyond the steel rafters, the mounted wooden stage once was erected. The stage itself trots memories which cannot be transcribed, yet every living Trinidadian and Tobagoian knowns that crossing it was a rite of passage. -thebookmann

Selling your soul to the devil - Oil and money do mix

A note to architects or draftsmen, when did the state of Florida have jurisdiction over you?

This structure with its lovely filigree wood trim and shingled roof once occupied the lot at the corner of St. Vincent and Prince Street, Port of Spain. It was the home to lawyers and doctors or some sort of bureaucratic agency. Quaint as it seemed, the conditions inside appeared unfit to live in. Then suddenly, the building was condemned and remained abandon for some time until the eventful day it imploded onto the pavement.

If you walk along the streets of our Capital, be mindful of the gapping holes which are filled with tyres or sticks to alert you so you don't fall in. The piles of litter or pools of dried urine left by the homeless and the disappearance of old buildings that gave the city its charm.

Aiming to capture the title of the financial hub of the Caribbean, common landmarks in the city are being sold for the almighty dollar, and are being replaced by conglomerates who have seized the opportunity for prized locations with no incentive of the aesthetics of our island. And slowly, what we thought was ours, is gently been pulled beneath us. -thebookmann

Red House - Trinidad and Tobago

Double Exposures and a less eventful day in our history

This is the Red House, rebuilt in 1907 after a fire destroyed it 1903. Red House is the centre of Trinidad and Tobago's Parliament and it is a building which has been neglected for sometime.

A few years ago, thebookmann and Adele had the opportunity to tour the chamber. We walked the path of the Leader and Opposition. We saw the ornate wooden chair that sits the Speaker of the House, a gift from Indian in celebration of our independence in 1962, and the physical evidence that has marred our history since our independence.

Not all feels well in the chamber, as if a blessing in needed to cleanse the uneasiness or the superstition ills that seem present. The people who sit, debate and abide by our Constitution are constantly reminded that things could suddenly change in a split second, and were there was calm, there could be chaos. Through the elaborate gesso work that decorates the ceiling and there is an ominous scar that is visible to the eye. There are Bullet holes logged in parts of the ceiling. This was the attempt in 1990, to overthrow the government and where the then Prime Minster was injured and seven people were killed in the attacks. Trinidad and Tobago still suffers from that day, and its aftermath. -thebookmann

A journey to the past – Ontario part 5

From the ground up, classical to post modern

The city of Toronto has a few impressive architectural landmarks. There is the Canadian National tower, the world's tallest freestanding structure next to the Sky Dome with its integrated retractable roof. If you are at King Street, you can venture into the pedestrian walkway designed by Santiago Calatrava located in the banking district of the city.

The overlapping steel beams gently loop from one side to the other, and the archway is fused by a complex matrix of geometrical joints that encloses the open street passageway. The light which penetrates through the glass roof gives one a sense of tranquility and visual beauty. Called the Allen Lambert Galleria, the city's oldest surviving stone building, the former Commercial Bank of Midland is part of a space that has been the backdrop for commercial ads, films and television productions. It is also the home, if thebookmann recalls, of the Hockey Hall of Fame.

When construction began in 1915, Union Station at Front Street was Canada's largest enclosed space at the time it was officially opened in 1927. The train station was built by both Canadian Pacific and Grand Trunk Railways and architects kept with the classical architectural style developed by the École des Beaux-Arts.

Union Station uses a series of large windows to illuminate the space. The facade are engraved with the names of the provinces that make up the Great North. -thebookmann

A journey to the past – Ontario part 4

We remember when we were kids - Irwin Toy

In the series of decay and rebirth, the city of Toronto had a few landmarks plotted in and about the industrial lots situated northwest of Front Street. There was the old train depot littered with carriages and a unusual platform or bay that rotated a train motor 180 degrees in the centre of a destitute field.

This is a view of the city of Toronto with many of the skyscrapers dominated by Banks. The large grain or fuel silos was in the vicinity of lands belonging to the railway. It may be astonishing to see if any structures still exist in 2007, as they were photographed nearly fifteen years ago. -thebookmann

Churches & Cemeteries series 3

If I pray to you and only you, does it matter where?

Tortuga Anglican, Roman Catholic, Roman Catholic Arima

Just at the crest of the Montserrat hills in Gran Couva, Trinidad and Tobago, two churches sit side by side. The Tortuga Roman Catholic Church is one of the oldest structures in Trinidad and Tobago, and at the time these photographs were taken, the building was being restored. But further down the road, the Tortuga Anglican church were not as lucky, the dilapidated building housed a simple altar and an open but sparse space for its congregation.

Before its restoration, the Tortuga Roman Catholic Church had a charm of its own. There were an array of unusual statues and shrines. One in particular was a small black doll called, Lady of Montserrat hidden from view in a cove. The church also felt Caribbean with its high and open windows. The pews sagged, the floors boards were worn, the wood shingles on the roof were unaligned, and the stained glass panels were not in place, but rather the empty opened arches behind the altar.

Things are quite different today, the church is restored, freshly painted and the French stained glass panels are in place, but the charm has disappeared. -thebookmann

“Something Special Swan Club”

He mad - An usual house built as a sea vessel.



A tugboat painted in red, blue and white

On a street off Barataria, Trinidad, West Indies, a boathouse is berthed to land. Something Special Swan Club is the building in question, and the letters are spelt out in wrought iron on the front gate. At the time this house was built, is caused quite a stir in the community. The spot was also popular among tourists. Rumor had it that the owner wanted to live close to the sea but could not. Something Special Swan Club was construct to give him the sense that he was with the upper deck and lower compartments, radar and tug .


One of its kind, Something Special Swan Club, a building that brought the tourist in, but its upkeep has taken a toll.

San Fernando's Art Deco

On occasions, photographing public art throughout Trinidad can be amusing. There are always people around who look puzzled to why a wall seems so interesting. The Rum shop limers who sat opposite this Art Deco buildings in San Fernando where also curious to know. What was so special with the building across the street. They stopped cussing and carrying on, just to maco. The building has a winged arch which acts as a buttress to support the upper part of the structure and is an example of the classic Art Deco architecture San Fernando once had.


The old Power Station in San Fernando Art Deco front. The symmetry and geometric shapes reflected movement and progress to the masses, and the architectural style for 1925 -1939 had functionality and elegance through its use of form and line.
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Terms and meaning

Maco - to mind other people's business

"None but ourselves can free our mind"

A billboard advertising welding in all specialized areas, Trinidad and Tobago

Burglar proofing is a booming business in Trinidad and Tobago and in every home or business place it has become an integrated part of the architectural landscape. For homeowners this is a venture into the Trinidad aesthetic, and welders are commissioned to fabricate elaborate shapes from wrought iron.


How best to live in jail. A pendant expressed by Jasmine Thomas-Girvan - “None but ourselves can free our mind” ...Bob Marley

Artisans beveled, curved and forged steel rods together to represent coils of branches, leaves, buds and filigree. The more ornate the better. This can provoke a neighborly competition and very soon a wrought iron pattern can become a fashion statement encouraging the entire street to following in suit.


A welder working on a door with semi-circle patterns


A popular filigree burglar proofing over a window, Central Trinidad, West Indies

Chateau de Tack

Were money had taken us higher, to a place far and beyond


From the road, a Chateau too small for its grounds, at St. Clair, Trinidad. At Christmas they plan to import snow.

Well, let’s start with a Balustrade and follow it through with an Acorinthian Column. Put in an Entablature and what about a Festoon? Give me a Patera, Pier, Putto, Fluting, Quatrefoil, Quoins, Spandrel Motif and for my yellow Hummer, a Porte-Corchère. Any why not complete my monstrosity with a Widow's Walk to maco meh neigbour yard.


Shop at your own risk. A park bench in front of a shed selling concrete fountains on one of the busiest Highways in Trinidad and Tobago.

Looking to refurbish your home? Do you need Pillars, columns and fountains in a variety of colours and cast in Royal concrete, stop here, shop here and take in the beautiful view of a highway.


The making of a home with less garishness, Central Trinidad