In 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated the urban fabric
of the Lower Ninth Ward. This project mission is to
rethink land use practices for the lowest elevations
of the Ninth Ward. The proposal is to redefine the urban
edge of the neighborhood, reestablish the site’s
ecological systems, and restore the cultural heritage
of the region. The design will emerge as a self-regulating
system with the primary mission of stimulating an understanding
of the environmental conditions of Louisiana.
History and Site Context: Time
With Katrina, just as in 1965 during Hurricane
Betsy, there was catastrophic damage due to the failure
of the levee system, which allows the city to survive
under sea level. History repeating itself in the form
of natural disaster in New Orleans has given the city
the opportunity to develop innovative and sustainable
ideas to deal with the future, that don’t rely
on the levee’s inconsistencies.
The surge of water from Hurricane Katrina
engulfed the entirety of the city, causing the infrastructure
within the lowest elevations to be destroyed beyond
repair. The Lower Ninth Ward is a neighborhood within
the city of New Orleans. It sits approximately 6-8 ft.
below sea level at its northern boundary of Bayou Bienvenue.
The highest point and southern boundary is the natural
levee of the Mississippi River. To the west its bound
by the industrial canal, which was a major cause of
flooding after multiple levee breaches during Hurricane
The project site is bound by North
Claiborne Street to the south and extends north to Bayou
Bienvenue. It was the most effected area of the Lower
Ninth Ward. The neighborhood in this area is a ruin
of scattered architecture and broken circulation. Bayou
Bienvenue, disconnected from the city by a secondary
levee and train tracks, is a necropolis of cypress due
to the intrusion of salt water flowing in from the Mississippi
River Gulf Outlet. Both are the result of unfortunate
planning. Together they represent the opportunity for
Analytical Operation: Traversing
Movement across the site was instrumental
in understanding the geological, hydrological, and ecological
processes of this landscape. Repetitive scans resulted
in the identification of key zones and differentiating
habitats within the site context. The ghost of an ordered
city, left from the devastation of Katrina, is an opportunity
to rethink the current land development practices within
the city. Redefining the urban edge will create a more
The dead cypress forest of Bayou Bienvenue
is a remnant of the lost habitat that once thrived here.
Returning the bayou to its natural state will create
a significant cultural habitat and help protect the
city from future storm surge. The static levee is a
challenge because it separates the two. Physical and
conceptual connections will flow over this boundary
in the form of ecology and circulation.
Design Strategy: Emerging Landscape
A series of steps are devised to rehabilitate the disturbed
conditions within the site context. Closing the Mississippi
River Gulf Outlet and re-opening the on-site water treatment
plant begins the process desalinizing Bayou Bienvenue.
Phytoremediation, in the form of sunflowers and oyster
mushrooms, will cleanse the Lower Ninth Ward soils from
found toxins such as arsenic and lead. Specific city
blocks will be capped for immediate economic use of
greenhouses and nurseries. All architecture will be
investigated to determine which pieces will be kept
as cultural relics.
Target houses, institutions, and roads will be kept
completely intact to memorialize and educate visitors
about the implications of natural disasters on urban
areas. Architectural relics will deteriorate over time
and reflect on the overall self-regulating theme of
the site. The boundaries of former city blocks will
be retained along the edge of the site to provide a
more ordered environment for agriculture fields, nurseries,
and a welcome center. Streets will be used as circulation
for interaction with the initial phase and will later
be over taken by the sites ecological systems.
The sites primary focus is to create a didactic environment
that will entice an understanding of Louisiana’s
natural heritage. Flatwoods, upland hardwoods, bottomland
hardwoods, and cypress forests represent an assortment
of species that will evolve through the temporal landscape.
Specific areas of the site will be maintained to create
ecological thresholds and further enhance the program
of differentiating environments and experiences.
The circulation system is a series of trails, varying
in scale and texture, programmed to promote interaction
between visitors and the various microclimates across
the site. The primary loop creates a physical connection
between the neighborhood and the bayou by extending
over the levee and around Bayou Bienvenue. Secondary
and tertiary trails are created overtime to move visitors
in and out of the multi-directional landscape.
A series of nodes along the path system are programmed
to educating visitors about the ecological systems of
Louisiana. These breaks along the circulation system
give users an understanding of the different niches
and ecological communities that exist within the site.
Each location is an intervention designed to advance
experiential learning through site phenomena.
This design uses Hurricane Katrina as an opportunity
to rethink the current land use standards of the Lower
Ninth Ward and provide a counter argument to the urbanization
of flood prone areas. The site is redefined as a self-regulating
system that is healed and returned to its natural conditions.
It creates a didactic landscape that enables visitors
the opportunity to learn and interact with the ecological
and cultural systems of Louisiana.