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Architecture in Times of Need
KRISTIN FEIREISS is an author, architectural critic, and curator. She has edited numerous publications in the field of architecture. In 1980 she founded Aedes Architecture Forum in Berlin, now one of the most successful institutions worldwide communicating architectural culture and urban design.
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New Orleans' famed French Quarter is obviously an American gem, a unique jewel among the country's many different and diverse neighborhoods. There is nothing else like it. What you may not know is that the French Quarter still exist much like it was 100 years ago because of city's economic stagnation. There was just never enough money to tear most of it down...
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In December 2008, McGill Architecture professor Michael Jemtrud received an invitation for his students to participate in the Billes Architecture Home Design Competition to design new homes for Katrina’s New Orleans victims.
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LSU landscape architecture students on Friday focused their creative energies on tackling one of Baton Rouge’s enduring problems — how to better connect the city to the Mississippi River. It was an academic exercise and the ideas were ambitious and unrestrained by budgetary concerns, market realities or engineering limitations. READ STORY
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The first phase will transform the area between Esplanade Avenue and Mazant Street. Now a gritty industrial zone marred by burned-out cargo docks, the area is set to become verdant green space replete with bike paths, pavilions, two piers and even electricity-generating windmills. If everything goes according to plan, the park will open in 2011. READ STORY
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On Make it Right's One-Year Anniversary, PlayGreen Initiative Brings Together Kellogg Company, KOMPAN and BNIM to Dedicate Kellogg Park, the U.S.'s First Digital, Eco-Friendly Playground
After Hurricane Katrina slammed into New Orleans on August 29, 2005, much of the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans suffered catastrophic flooding and the vast majority of its residents lost their homes. Since the disaster, not a single playground has been built in the area, and the children of this part of New Orleans do not have a proper place to play. The Make it Right Foundation, headed by the actor and activist Brad Pitt, partnering with PlayGreen Initiative, will dedicate Kellogg Park on Wednesday, December 3, 2008, aided by donations from Kellogg's Corporate Citizenship Fund, KOMPAN, Inc., and BNIM, a leading architectural firm.
Nearly $500,000 worth of equipment, landscaping, and labor/services were donated to the park and playground, including a $300,000 KOMPAN donation in equipment, a $100,000 grant from Kellogg's Corporate Citizenship Fund and services provided by BNIM Architects and John Williams Architects.
BNIM, a national leader in sustainable design and also one of 12 design firms for the Make it Right Project, designed the overall site, and JWA, a New Orleans architectural firm, served as a local collaborator. Both the equipment and the site are designed using sustainable methods and materials that minimize the impact on the environment while providing exceptional play value and a quality community gathering place. The play space will be constructed in an environmentally sustainable way, using local suppliers, native plantings, and natural means to control water flow, thereby reducing pollution, runoff, and other problems associated with asphalt and more traditional playground design. The playground equipment is constructed using sustainable methods including the use of non-toxic, recyclable and environmentally friendly materials. Solar energy will also be used to power the electronic components on the new equipment.
"This project plants one more seed of hope and renewal in New Orleans," said Tim Knowlton, Kellogg Company vice president of corporate social responsibility. "On behalf of Kellogg people everywhere, this playground is dedicated to the children in the Lower Ninth Ward."
The Lower Ninth Ward is now the home to the most technologically advanced, solar powered, playground in the country and the first of its kind in North America. The playground equipment was donated by KOMPAN, Inc. ICON is a state of the art outdoor gaming platform that can be integrated into KOMPAN's climbing, exercise and playground equipment. A number of different ICON games energize play on the equipment and stimulate motion, strategic thinking and physical activity. Children can keep score and play alone, in pairs or in teams as they climb, jump, run and swing their way through the equipment.
"This park represents both the future of outdoor play with ICON interactive gaming and the future of the community of the Lower Ninth Ward," Tom Grover, President of KOMPAN, Inc. stated. "Play builds community, kids and much more. Everyone at KOMPAN is proud to be a part of this important rebuilding project."
For more information and photographs of Kellogg Park, please visit www.playgreeninitiative.com
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You thought a hurricane or two could keep this city down?
By Sara Roahen
October 2008 issue of Budget Travel
1. Sobering thoughts
2. They put the art in party
3. High on the hog
4. Acadian rhythm
5. Take me to the river
6. Helping hands
7. Sounds nice
8. Catch-as-catch-candy
9. Iris fidelis
10. Storied history
11. Home cooking
12. A ringing endorsement
13. Let the good times roll
14. Rifling through architecture
15. Just off the boot
16. Stars in stripes
17. What's old is new
18. Gumbo guidelines
19. A fresh approach
20. Magnificent MiLa
21. Southern hospitality
22. Drink locally
23. Progressive parties
24. Class transit
25. You're invited!
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On November 1, 2008, Prospect.1 New Orleans [P.1], the largest biennial of international contemporary art ever organized in the United States, will open to the public in museums, historic buildings, and found sites throughout New Orleans. Prospect.1 New Orleans [P.1] has been conceived in the tradition of the great international biennials, and will showcase new artistic practices as well as an array of programs benefiting the local community. Over the course of its eleven-week run, Prospect.1 New Orleans [P.1] plans to draw international media attention, creative energy, and new economic activity to the city of New Orleans. The exhibit will run until January 18, 2009.
The exhibition plan for Prospect.1 New Orleans calls for a total of 100,000 square feet of exhibition space, divided among several buildings in various historic New Orleans neighborhoods, including the Warehouse District, the Bywater, French Quarter, the Marigny, and Treme. A number of existing institutions and halls – CAC, NOMA, the Ogden -- will be used, along with converted warehouses, commercial structures and other public spaces in the city.
Why New Orleans?
It might be universally celebrated as the birthplace of jazz, but New Orleans is also where new international art first found an official footing in the U.S. From its inception in 1887 - Claude Monet was among the early exhibitors -- through 1914, when Italy and France sent their official artistic representatives for the last time, the Annual Exhibition of the Art Association of New Orleans functioned as America’s most sophisticated ongoing survey of new international art. Because of its romantic history and unparalleled architecture, New Orleans has always attracted visual artists in the same way that it has attracted musicians, writers and chefs. Both history and architecture combine to make New Orleans the ideal city for an international biennial.
Why a biennial for New Orleans?
Since the post-Katrina floods of 2005, the international art community has expressed a collective desire to make a positive contribution to the city and people of New Orleans. But these intentions have been hampered so far by the sense that there is no suitable public vehicle for channeling this interest in a positive way. In showcasing the city through contemporary art installations, Prospect.1 New Orleans seeks to base an entirely new category of tourism for the city on the growing American interest in contemporary art, as well as the worldwide love for New Orleans.
Why should I visit Prospect.1 New Orleans?
In recent years, Americans in increasing numbers have become captivated by contemporary art. From insular cottage industry to multi-billion-dollar marketplace, the contemporary art world has developed an unmistakable appeal to people who ten years ago may never have given it much thought. Until now, however, there has never been a large-scale biennial of contemporary art in the U.S., and as a result, most people have only the Internet, local museums and travel as ways to experience new art. Prospect.1 New Orleans will offer an exhibition on a scale that has never been attempted before in the U.S. For that reason alone, anyone interested in new art should find a visit to Prospect.1 New Orleans indispensable.
Another important reason to visit Prospect.1 New Orleans is that New Orleans’ economy runs on tourism. For every night you stay in a hotel, every meal you eat, and every musician you hear performing in a local club, you contribute directly to the rebuilding of New Orleans.
http://www.prospectneworleans.org/
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"Architecture School," a new documentary series about college kids designing and building state-of-the-art low-income housing, uses the extreme case of New Orleans to illustrate how important it is to prebuild correctly, whether designing a music player that fits in your shirt pocket or a home that can survive a hurricane. READ STORY
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