The following project was submitted by myself and four others for the Urban Land Institute Hines Competition, a graduate urban design and development competition that encourages teams of individiauals across different fields, including architecture, urban planning,
landscape architecture and real estate.
landscape architecture and real estate.
New Orleans is a historic city that is rich with architectural and cultural heritage. Recognizing this, we wish to integrate parts of its history in subtle and not-so-subtle ways into our development, making it an ideal place to live, work and visit. "The Roots at Tulane-Gravier" is a vibrant urban development plan that seeks to build upon and further perpetuate New Orleans’ desire to create and enhance urban neighborhoods through a very important concept that acknowledges the importance for us to be able to identify with our past so that we can better understand our present and, thus, embrace our future.
"The Roots" seeks to turn this site, locally known as Tulane-Gravier, into a thriving, mixed-use area that takes advantage of its location. Primarily, "The Roots" will connect local residents and the medical campus, to the south, to the French Quarter, to the east via a cultural path, the highlight of this urban development plan. In addition to featuring a number of retail and housing options, to attract a diverse range of residents and increase and encourage pedestrian traffic, a brand-new genealogy center will be sited along this path, providing locals residents the opportunity to find out who they are and where they come from, especially important for the predominantly African-American population of Tulane-Gravier and New Orleans. This cultural path also provides access to the St. Louis Cemeteries, part of the Louisiana African-American Heritage Trail, and will feature traditional architectural styles of New Orleans that have been influenced by the French and Spanish.
Water is another huge part of New Orleans history as the city was once the largest port in the South during the 19th century. Because of this, "The Roots" will establish a strong visual and functional axis along the greenway by extending the Bayou St. John, a waterway used for historic purposes through kayaking tours, from the edge of City Park further east into this development. Music is an iconic art form associated with New Orleans and so the Bayou St. John will be terminated by a new amphitheater towards the east which will be on axis with the Mahalia Jackson Theater in the Louis Armstrong Park towards the north. This area is meant to complement the theater by providing outdoor events during favorable weather and respond to the flood-prone nature of this community by doubling as a detention basin when
water levels are too high.
water levels are too high.
"The Roots at Tulane-Gravier" will preserve local culture and identity through the genealogy center, architectural styles and the amphitheater, provide sustainable solutions for the flood-prone environment through the Bayou St. John Extension and the amphitheater, ensure equitable access to economic prosperity through the provision of job opportunities on-site and connections to the French Quarter and medical campus, manage change to benefit the existing community through a diversity of housing types that target a range of economic groups to resist gentrification and enhanced transportation choice and access through the cultural path, to promote walkability and active transportation, as well and water transportation along the Bayou St. John Extension.