CRESCENT CITY

"Intractable problems," we were told, and after five days in New Orleans, I couldn't help appreciate the sentiment.

As part of the 'Revitalization' studio, we were flown down to meet with community members and study our site. Overall, the scale and depth of the challenges faced by the communities in New Orleans is overwhelming. And so it seems that the ultimate investigation of this studio will be of how can design, or how can we as designers, overcome these problems? How far can design go to improving or even stabilizing the lives of the people and the communities in and around the Crescent City?


What will this solution look like, one which solves the usual programmatic requirements, but includes an addendum of institutionalized racism, de facto segregation, back room politics, economic disaster, land loss, subsidence, and hurricanes? How can we overcome a fear of change and convince the communities, our client, that the parti is likely to be something unfamiliar; that an affective solution is not going to be 'business as usual.'


No doubt there have been designers challenging themselves with these same questions for the past 3 years in New Orleans and elsewhere in the world for different reasons. At the moment it is obvious that I still have questions myself. However, what better a test than to design in the face of these 'intractable problems.' I am looking forward to putting design to the test and doing my part to offer a solution. -KD