Lower ninth ward project, new orleans
In the Studio for our first major project of the nine weeks we were assigned to design a recovery shelter in the Lower Ninth Ward neighborhood in New Orleans prior to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Under certain guidelines and limitations, I was able to come up with the portability of shipping containers to create a home out of multiple containers. My project had six containers in total, which was just enough space for my family to have some flexibility and breathing room in the home.
Each shipping container was 8' x 20' and 8'-6" tall. In total, the house was 20' x 48' making it a very long house to fit my site. In order to connect the house to fit the needs of the family, I made it similar to a shotgun house using a hallway to connect the bedrooms and bathroom together in the back of the house. For the front of the house, I created a large 20' x 24' open space that contains the living room and the kitchen/dining room for a nice open space to have guests and family come together to unite. Since the project also required a storage room, I had that disconnected from the shotgun and made the door face the outside for private use just for the family.
Each shipping container was 8' x 20' and 8'-6" tall. In total, the house was 20' x 48' making it a very long house to fit my site. In order to connect the house to fit the needs of the family, I made it similar to a shotgun house using a hallway to connect the bedrooms and bathroom together in the back of the house. For the front of the house, I created a large 20' x 24' open space that contains the living room and the kitchen/dining room for a nice open space to have guests and family come together to unite. Since the project also required a storage room, I had that disconnected from the shotgun and made the door face the outside for private use just for the family.
Lower ninth ward project part 2, New orleans
In the Studio for our second and final project of the semester, we had to build off of what we made on our first project but make our house designs a permenant residence. I wanted to keep the same culture in the Lower Ninth Ward but make it somewhat modern, so I started my work designing a modern shotgun style house. For this project we needed a client, my clients name was Jackie Brown, a mother of three who worked in the field of Law, and was relocated to Houston after Hurricane Katrina devastated her normal life and my goal was to bring her back to New Orleans. My first design consisted of two stories of space, with a front porch and a back porch located on the side of the house, but since she is by herself and that her sons are all grown up, I realized she didn't need all that vacant space. I began working on two separate buildings, one main building that was 20' x 60', including two 20' x 10' porches and a guest house located 30 feet behind the main building with dimensions of 20' x 30' with two bedrooms, a bathroom and living space. This design was possible by having a spacious 30' by 140' lot, allowing me to use my space wisely. Now only having to worry mainly of the main building on the site, Jackie is able to have a smaller space just for her, while the guest house can be used for visitors that may visit. Between the two buildings, there is a 20' x 10' garden for Jackie to grow her own vegetables or other plants for her own recreational use. This allows the site to be more sustainable and with a large cypress tree also in the backyard, it can shade the back porch from the afternoon sun. Although this house design may be a bit old fashioned and bland, it gets the job done with enough space for Jackie to live, work and visit with friends and family.
