in new orleans(at least) there is a sense of patchwork to this city...different areas are very different from other areas of the city but the distance between the two is only a block or two...a kind of compressed and invisible boundry between socio-economic and cultural backgrounds that make this city great...there are "good" neighborhoods that are bound by "bad" ones, and even the "bad" ones are only bound by a block or so of freakishly high amounts of crime(a couple of shootings/muggings/etc. a day). as i've seen and experienced the crime here never really bleeds out into other blocks or areas...it seems that it's contained within small, rundown areas--a little strange to me since most cities(at least i would assume) deal with crime ridden area branching out and bleeding into other areas...sorry i'm rambling...
anywhos...
the sites that i'm considering for this project are the areas that are surrounding the I-10 freeways that cut through the downtown and surrounding neighborhoods...these neighborhoods existed long before the city came through and put in these freeways...and the area underneath the freeway, usually left unconsidered and unutilized--currently being used for parking--IS being utilized by the surrounding neighborhoods...mardi gras parties, selling stereos and tvs out of the back of their truck, selling fruit at the intersections, a place to gather on a lunch break, etc.
possible sites:
n. claiborne & canal--one block off of the french quarter/tourist area. the height of the freeway is only about 2 stories high with both metal and concrete girders supporting it. there are some lights(picture gym lighting) that are placed underneath the bridge, but i'm not sure if they are working or if they even illuminate a whole lot at night. there are some circular platforms that used to be fountains(hard to describe without pics) where they have turned off the fountains because the homeless used them for showers, now the homeless just sleep there and gather...the canal street trolley passes right through this site and the area seems to be the leftovers from a failed city tourist attraction. most of the surrounding neighborhood is made up of older and less reputable motels, some semi-thriving local businesses(like la la boutique/nails) and some clubs--i'm not sure the popularity of the clubs or what cultural significance that they have to the surroundings..
n. claiborne & orleans--this is the extension of orleans street from the french quarter north(not navigationally north, but follow orleans street above the french quarter). this has the same approx. 2 story height as the first location, and also has the same lighting. this area is right in the center of a community that includes kind of a rough neighborhood... the projects here are known for some violence, but the culture surrounding them is vibrant. the use of the underpass currently is for lunch break hangouts for construction workers, walking to and from local markets, this is the area that i went to for mardi gras(awesome turn out as i've mentioned before) and other such random little happenings. from what i have gathered about this area, before the freeway was put in, there were a series of oak trees that lined n. claiborne(as i've heard it described, it much resembled the st. charles street feeling, only not as much wealth). currently the city has had the posts of the freeway that line the frontage road painted to look like oak trees( funny little inset: when i took pictures it looked like they were actually going to plant some baby trees next to the posts--you'll have to see it). the inner posts towards the inside of the space were painted with culturally meaningful murals, each one had a different mural and they extended out from the intersection for almost 2 blocks each way.
i think this is my favorite site, as i think the potential for my design ideas would have the most information to deal with...and i think it's the most accurate picture of the city as a patchwork.
Calliope & Tchopotoulis area--this area is pretty bleak right now--though i need to drive around and discover a little more about it. it's right where the old industrial factories start meeting the down town area. alot of this area is open feilds, parking lots, a couple of factories that are unused, and some factories that have been gutted and renovated--one for a club-(twi-rope-a for those that are a little more local) and some on the downtown side of the freeway that are newly renovated loft apartments...this area is pretty bleak as there was never really a neighborhood around here, more of just factories and warehouses, though this freeway area leads to the mississippi(spelling?) river bridge connecting downtown to algeirs(on the other side of the river). the freeway underpass area is about 4 to 5 stories high depending on where you are, so there might be some potential in more vertical moves, but like i said this area seems pretty bleak to me...(erin, don't cross it off the list before you check it out again...)
my idea is to create an architecture/urban design that will respond to this reclaiming of that space by the surrounding neighborhoods...to solidifiy the temporary happenings in an adaptive way...making the temporary more permanent. i'm wanting to play with ideas of evolution over time, adaptation, an emergent system, and the temporary versus the permenant...
right now the nebulous design in my head is about setting up peices of architecture/program as parameters based off of the mappings of the area and allowing the form and programs of the site to become dictated by the evolution of the use and utilization of the space...it seems like the freeway has sliced through some of these neighborhoods and the people are trying to regain the connections and spaces that the freeway has left behind...fraught with potential.
blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.....
now the floor is open to feedback: check yes or no
posted by ekeith @ 4:36 PM
2 Comments:
the building is way to small, it has to be at least 2x times bigger
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