[re] Occupy New Orleans

Advanced Studio | Derek Dellekamp | Austin, Texas | Spring 2012

DESIGN TEAM: Travis Avery, Travis Ritchie, Laine Hardy, Travis Cook

Architecture for Humanity’s [un]Restricted Access competition formed the criteria of a studio course proposing community focused adaptive reuse of decommissioned military spaces. “Cause and coherence” were defined by the instructor as a dynamic framework to form, focus, evaluate, and refine the integrity between highly complex, disparate elements within a design project. Our team of four students selected the Naval Support Activity facility in New Orleans for its potential positive impact across a large segment of vibrant communities affected by a multitude of climactic, social, and economic difficulties.

For 100 years, the Naval Support facility in New Orleans has been the property of the U.S. Department of Defense. During that time, both the site and the Mississippi Riverfront have been inaccessible to neighborhood, community and city.  We propose opening the buildings and riverfront to public occupation, creating a school and economic engine that will redefine the relationship of public and private, creativity and industry. Allowing for a system of flexibility and exchange promotes new urban relationships and allows culture and economies to adapt and expand. This project forms a confluence of place, people, and ideas. It is a mixing zone that enables diverse and experiential learning. This is where education, innovation, and economy converge. A network of diverse viewpoints, skills, and goals creates a potent location for young emerging businesses.  Providing spaces for diverse interaction forms a symbiotic loop that sustains both the economy and culture of a place over time. Rather than simply proscribing solutions, our design seeks to construct a network of spaces and spatial relationships, which the community can appropriate and occupy
dynamically as they see fit.

Collectively, we have the power to define our cultural identity, shape our economic reality, and learn to live as a part of dynamic, resillient systems. This is the new confluence of the city, and the city is yours.