Make it Righter
A Counterproposal to Brad Pitt's "Make it Right, NOLA"
I joined the University of Miami School of Architecture's New New Urbanism Studio in 2009. Yes, there's a second "New" in there to imply that the studio was taking things to the next level. By that time, the studio had already formed a traditionally-based and culturally sensitive nine-block masterplan that could be replicated throughout swaths of the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans.
Our next step involved designing the different traditional building types for the template that would honor the vernacular architecture of New Orleans while also being sustainable. The studio took an approach to rebuilding the Lower Ninth Ward counter to that of Brad Pitt in his highly publicized "Make it Right" campaign, where starchitects from all over the world flew in to leave their signatures without considering much of NOLA's history or climate.
Design Technique: The "Kit of Parts"
The "Kit of Parts" technique allows a designer to quickly assemble the spaces of a prescribed building inside its footprint. The advantages of this technique are twofold:
1. Speed of design. The pieces fit together like a puzzle.
2. The designer can start with the ideal layout of a space and modify it later instead of trying to force a layout onto residual space created from a parti.
The use of this technique assumes that the footprint of the building is pre-determined, usually based on historical precedent.
The Corner Storehouse
The American Townhouse
We repeat the process for the second building type. Unlike the Corner Storehouse, which tends to be a building type open to the public on the ground floor, the American Townhouse is a completely private residence with a gradient of semi-private to private spaces.