New Orleans Recovery: Phase I
For the first nine weeks of the 2015-2016 school year, the CCE Practicum Architecture students were tasked with designing a temporary recovery center in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans shortly after Hurricane Katrina hit.
My intent with this project was to create a transition from the negative aspects of the hurricane to the positive opportunities the future holds. In order to do this, I needed to design a temporary shelter for those who were beginning to rebuild the city. To make my building temporary, flexible, and rapidly deployable, I designed Ten Fold Engineering styled buildings which start out as shipping containers that can be brought in on large trucks and expand out into full-sized buildings. My design includes three buildings: the smallest being the working/resting space for recovery teams; the middle being a health center; and the largest (with the curved wall) functioning as a community gathering space. The curved wall paired with the curved bench creates a sacred space around a large "survivor tree" in the middle of my site. The colors of my walls are both bases for community art and graffiti, and a way to give off the bright and lively culture of New Orleans.
New Orleans Community Health: Phase II
For the second 9-week block of the 2015 Fall semester, the Practicum I class designed a community health center. Each of the students' designs differed based on their interpretations of what "community health" is.
With this design, I wanted to find a way to tie the community together in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans. This idea inspired a ribbon shape in my building, which can be seen across the site with the curved roofs of my building and several picnic pavilions. For sustainability, Every roof is covered in solar-panel shingles, which provides the main source of power to the site. I also have rain gardens throughout the site to collect rainwater, and bike racks along a large bike trail to promote "Human-Powered Living" as it is explained in the Living Building challenge. My building contains a small gym, a cafe, childcare, and multipurpose rooms for yoga, martial arts, and other recreational activities.
