The Netherlands Institute of Architecture (NAI), together with the School of Architecture at Tulane University (New Orleans) and Artforum magazine, invited three Dutch and three American workshops to develop a joint solution for public buildings on three levels of importance: district, city and region.
On the Dutch side, these are MVRDV, Ben van Berkel from UN Studio and Adrian Gueuze from West 8. From the US side - Morphosis, Huff + Gooden Architects and Hargreaves Associates.
The goal of the organizers is to offer New Orleans a new architectural future that would be linked to social responsibility, new political activism and a close connection with the environment. This is the opposite of the rebuilding process that is now in full swing in the city - that is, the reconstruction of existing structures and urban planning schemes.
At the district level, MVRDV and Huff + Gooden Architects commissioned the design of the school; at the city "UN Studio" and "Morphosis" developed projects of the central "media library". Landscape architects West 8 and Hargreaves Associates presented landscape design projects for the specific geographic conditions of the region.
Each of the works reinforces the links between the geophysical, architectural and social systems of the city.
An exhibition of these projects, Newer Orleans - A Shared Space, has opened at the NAI. In parallel, an open discussion will be held in Rotterdam on the problems of water management in a modern metropolis.
