Katrina Cottages

Images: Mississippi Development Authority

Immediately after Hurricane Katrina, hundreds of designers descended on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and New Orleans. Chief among them were purveyors of the New Urbanism movement. The Katrina Cottage design was born out of those efforts.

New Urbanists lean heavily on borrowing historical examples of "traditional neighborhoods" in creating master plan layouts and in establishing the stylistic appearance of buildings and spaces.

(Before firing off hate mail to the author, please be aware that, admittedly, this is somewhat of a broad and over-simplistic explanation of New Urbanism. Somewhat. There are variations on the theme, but the "looking back" quality seems to be a common tenant. You can learn more about New Urbanism from pioneer Andres Duany and associates in the very informative book Suburban Nation.)

My critique of New Urbanism is that it tends to be forced, overly regimented, lacking in unpredictable creativity, and unnecessarily nostalgic - all qualities, when overly weighted - result in sacrificing environmental compatibility for the sake of "what it looks like." Having said that, I think the New Urbanists are spot on in their analysis of what's wrong with America's suburbs.

Take for example this proposed layout (above) included in Mississippi's grant application - Mississippi calls them Mississippi Cottages, not Katrina Cottages - for alternative hurricane relief housing. The explanation claims that this plan is based on a "Roman Camp" model. Just between you and me, I think it more closely resembles the layout of a stockade or a modern-day penitentiary.

Where's the life? Where are the unexpected delightful spaces. And what happened to Nature? (Here's a clue: think about bulldozers lined up blade to blade scraping Mother Nature's silt-soft skin.)



Earlier in the year, a coast developer who was considering buying out a few hundred of the excess cottages hired me to design a layout for said cottages a few miles north of the gulf. The density requirement was a challenge on this project, but here's the organic solution I came up with.

Notice the variety of spaces (carved out of the natural landforms) and the periodic relief between units and shared vistas into natural wetlands.

Quite a contrast. Same Katrina Cottages but with a very different feel. A more natural feel. What a difference it makes to the senses (and the human spirit) when sensitive coexistence with the natural environment trumps "historical" remedies.

Update: Since this post, a couple of people have mentioned that the site plan of the New Urbanist-generated Katrina Cottage layout looked curiously like 1) a concentration camp or 2) the hull of a slave ship. You be the judge.

GreenMobile: Eco Prefab

Image by Michael Berk (double click image for higher resolution)


In response to the Katrina toxic trailer debacle, the federal government appropriated $400 million for alternative temporary housing.

Mississippi's Katrina Cottage concept got the lion's share of the money, but a respectable thin sliver - almost $6 million - went to fund the production of a lesser known concept - Michael Berk's GreenMobile.

The GreenMobile, pronounced like the oil company, not the auto-, is a factory-produced, transportable, expandable, affordable green home that can serve as a "port after the storm" or as permanent domicile. This prototype ties into existing infrastructure or can be equipped to go it alone as self-sustaining living quarters.

Though Katrina Cottages are in abundance - the State of Mississippi is now selling off the excess units - I have to say I'm having some trouble finding a constructed GreenMobile anywhere in Mississippi. (Can somebody help me out here?)

I asked Michael Berk recently about the status of the funded GreenMobile and he said he didn't know. Seems that after consulting early on, he's out of the loop on any resulting construction. Sounding like someone talking about an estranged former lover, Berk commented about the design : "It's changed." I could hear him shaking his head over the phone.

Nevertheless, the final proposal for funding that I saw two years ago was far deeper shade of green than anything else out there. The wording in the appropriation announcement contained the disclaimer "up to" before funding amounts. It would be a shame if this progressive prototype died a premature death with money on the table.

Check out Professor/Architect Michael Berk's website for more images of the GreenMobile.

The Legacy of FEMA Trailers: Meet "Little Wierdo"

Image: still from Becky Gillette interview with Katrina survivor Jennifer Donelson

My friend Becky Gillette is a real American hero. We've all heard about the hazardous levels of formaldehyde that were found in Katrina FEMA trailers; well, you can thank Becky for bringing this explosive story to the world's attention.

Here's what happened.

Shortly after Katrina's homeless population started occupying the FEMA-supplied manufactured homes - an industry euphemism for "house trailers" - rumors started to circulate that people who lived in the trailers were getting sick. Very sick.

Scratchy eyes, sore throat, couching, nausea, vomiting - the symptoms seemed to be universal. When people inquired into the coincidental nature of all the sudden ill health, they were told, in so many words, to go back in their trailers and shut up. 'Be glad to have any home at all' was the prevailing sentiment from the federal government officials who were sent down to smooth things over.

(You can read my FEMA Trailer post from last year: Wake Up and Smell the Formaldehyde.)

One of the very few environmentalists living on the coast at the time, Becky caught wind of the situation and doggedly pursued the story through the press and, with the Sierra Club, through the courts until the federal government was forced to admit that the trailers were not fit for human habitation. They subsequently forbade any government employees from entering the trailers on "safety" grounds, and measures were taken to move people into alternative housing.

In her interview with Katrina survivor Jennifer Donelson, the consequences of living in a toxic environment are revealed. Sitting on her couch and holding her Katrina baby, she tells about the excitement of when her family first moved in to their new trailer. "It had that great brand-new smell. I thought that was good! Of course," she says sadly, "it ended up not being good."

Jennifer goes on to tell how living with formaldehyde affected her child.

"We just called him Little Wierdo. We didn't know there was something really wrong with him." Shortly after birth, she noticed that her baby was turning blue. Then he stopped breathing.

I'll spare you the rest of the details; you can watch the interview here.

For her work, Becky was awarded a 2008 Sierra Club Special Achievement award. USA Today called her "Gulf Coast's Erin Brockovich." We need more people like Becky in this world.

Green Homes for New Orleans' Ninth Ward

Image by William McDonough + Partners


In New Orleans, Brad Pitt's initiative - Make It Right Homes - is refitting the devastated 9th Ward with an interesting collection of affordable green homes. Four years after the storm, several units are finished and occupied, more are under construction, and still more are on the way.

Pitt's organization managed to obtain the services of some of the country's leading green architects to design MIR prototypes including this one by architect William McDonough.

McDonough seems to have come out of the womb thinking green. His influential book Cradle to Cradle has proven to be somewhat of a manifesto for sustainable design. In the book, he and coauthor Michael Braungart promote the idea that "waste equals food" introducing to a wide audience the concept that products can be designed for infinite uses in a closed loop life cycle.

His early claim to fame was the design of a solar house built in Ireland in 1977. New Orleans has considerably more sun than Ireland; you guessed it - this home is equipped with a rooftop of PV panels.

Some very nice work is going on here, but given the huge demand for affordable housing in the Katrina affected zone, it's just a drop in the proverbial bucket. But the ideas generated in the process - many experimental - are the real power of this initiative. How this plays out will influence far more than the Ninth Ward, I predict.

Click on this link for detailed renderings and plans of William McDonough's green duplex prototype.

And for some "on the ground" reporting on the new MIR homes, check out this link from Lira Luis' blog. Lira is a former Taliesin apprentice and uber-creative architect in her own right.

Home, Cool Home

This week's newspaper column. Read it in the Hattiesburg American.

This past Saturday marked the four year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, and the recovery is ongoing.

Inland a bit, damage to buildings and infrastructure was limited to consequences resulting from the business end of fallen trees and lack of electricity. Still, almost everyone who went through the experience had an unpleasant run-in with the modern state of homebuilding in America.

Two days after the storm, my Mother’s next-door neighbor commented “Yesterday was the worst day of my life!” as she packed up her car in preparation for driving north to stay with relatives while things were sorted out. “My house was so hot I couldn’t stand it.”

Curiously, in her estimation, the day after the storm was worse than the storm itself. Why? Because her house, as designed, was uninhabitable without the benefit of electric air conditioning. In a hot and sometimes muggy climate, her home was constructed with low ceilings, and the windows - placed for “look” instead of sized and located for comfortable ventilation - were painted shut.

All across the hurricane-affected area people evacuated their homes and set up living spaces under porch overhangs, if indeed the home had a covered porch. Hurricane parties ensued as melting freezers emptied and barbecue grills took flame.

Upon subsequent observation, the houses least affected by Katrina’s electricity-less aftermath were older homes. Turns out, as far as environmental compatibility goes, the older the home, the more human comfort it offered.

A century ago, before electricity was common and without the luxury of 24/7 air conditioning, even the most uneducated builder knew how to construct a home that worked in tandem with the environment. The high ceilings, ample windows, transoms, breezeways, and porches were not accidental. Those elements, common to all older homes in the south, were not add-ons for the sake of curb appeal; they acted in concert to cool the home efficiently, inexpensively, and most of all, naturally.

Here’s how it works.

Hot air rises leaving cooler air below, so tall ceilings allow for the hot air to collect above human living space. Operable transoms allow that hot air to migrate out of interior spaces and escape from ceiling and attic vents thereby pulling cooler air in from under shaded porches.

Breezes also help cut the body’s perception of heat. The passive airflow rendered by convection was important in the design of every older home, and breezeways channeled cool winds from tree-shaded yards throughout the home.

Those principles are just as valid today as they were a hundred years ago. Armed with information on how our physical universe works, we can employ environmentally compatible methods in the design of new homes and the renovation of existing structures.

Just because homes have not been designed to work with the environment over the past few decades does not mean they cannot be; it just takes a willingness to do so.

Katrina Revisited

photos by Victor Sidy

Yesterday was the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's devastating crash into the Mississippi gulf coast. Today's Sunday papers are full of "where are we now" reports as community leaders, planners, and concerned citizens gathered for what now has become an annual assessment of planning strategies and a debriefing of progress made.

In the immediate aftermath of the storm, the design world focused its attention on flooded New Orleans and the hard-hit Mississippi Gulf Coast. A healthy atmosphere for brainstorming was the default mode as Katrina had washed away much of the built environment leaving a blank canvas in her wake.

Four years on, the consensus seems to be that state and federal government policies and the lack of affordable insurance have become the biggest obstacles standing in the way of rebuilding the coast. (Check out today's editorial cartoon by Marshall Ramsey of Jackson's Clarion Ledger newspaper.)

I think it only appropriate to reprise the design effort that gave name to this blog and refocused its author on helping manifest a uniquely American architecture.

In response to the storm, I teamed up with the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture to suggest a way of rebuilding that is livable, humane, culturally rich, sustainable, and organic. In the year after the storm, we developed a set of guiding principles for "The New American Village" and presented - with drawings, models, and multimedia - the work at a symposium and museum exhibition at the University of Southern Mississippi on the one year anniversary of the storm.

The amazing model you see here was produced in the drafting room at Taliesin, near Spring Green, Wisconsin, and shipped down to Mississippi in pieces. I would be remiss if I didn't mention the inspiration for the model; Frank Lloyd Wright toured the country some seventy years earlier with his Broadacre City model lecturing on, among other things, a vision for how the automobile should impact the way Americans build.

The model-building team was headed up brilliantly by Michael DesBarres, a graduate student apprentice, now graduated, at the FLlW/SARC. Apprentices Ryan Hewson and Christian Butler made up the core model team. Ebbie Azimi, Niloufar Karimi, Marsha Fader, Pei Liu, Derek Pasieka, and Jeff Graham - all Taliesin apprenti - participated in the creative effort. Nicholas Sorlein, an installation artist (now living in North Carolina), who had the title of "Director of Non-Linear Thinking" when he worked in my office, also pitched in on the effort as did Tom Barthelemy, a former apprentice who's also worked in the office for a time.

Architect and former apprentice Victor Sidy heads up the program at the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture. Dean Sidy's forward-thinking vision, rooted in his time spent as both an undergraduate and a graduate apprentice at the school, builds on Frank Lloyd Wright's legacy of living architecture - always in fresh and multifaceted ways.


So here they are: The New American Village Guiding Principles for designing livable communities anywhere:

NATURE - Draw Design Inspiration from Natural Elements

BALANCE - Spaces Work Together in Dynamic Synergy

GEOGRAPHIC CONNECTIVITY - Everything is Connected – No Disconnects, No Dead Ends

SOCIAL CONNECTIVITY - Everyone is Connected - No Throw-Away Individuals

DIVERSITY - Foster Inclusiveness as an Ethic

ENVIRONMENTAL COMPATIBILITY - Man WITH Nature – not Man OVER Nature

SUSTAINABLE BUILDING AND ENERGY SYSTEMS - Employ Environmentally Compatible Systems – Be Creative!!!

ARCHITECTURE THAT BELONGS WHERE IT IS - Buildings are Responsive to Local Environment, Indigenous Culture, and Nearby Materials

INNOVATIVE CONCEPTS FOR ELEVATING QUALITY OF LIFE - Shared Paradise for an Increased Freedom for LIVING!

THE HUMAN SPIRIT! - All Spaces are Sacred