Neutral
Redux: Global Green's Housing Futures Competition for New Orleans
New Orleans LA
Semifinalist Entry
Neutral Ground: everybody uses it in New Orleans, nobody owns it.
In most cities this is called a "median-" that strip of
ground in the middle of a road. Legend has it that the neutral ground
got its name as a place where French and Spanish residents could
do business between respective territories of the city. Usage of
this term and its associated legends and myths identifies natives
from non-natives and New Orleans adamancy about it says much about
their attitude regarding ground and its specific configurations.
The notion of “neutral ground,” a generic strip, plays
in sharp contrast to predominant conditions in New Orleans where
ground is anything but neutral and terra firma (whether political,
cultural, or physical) does not exist. Consider not only this early
friction between nationalities which generated one type of strip,
but the conundrum generated by another strip, the canal, imposed
on the landscape to create an artificial condition of dry land or
to enable industry.
The utilization of generic strips that negotiate specifics of geography,
environment, and neighborhood became the starting point for the
project. Just as the concept of “neutral ground” has
both no use and spontaneous use, these strips do not remain static
but accommodate multiple programs.
In one direction, moving roughly north to south, the strips establish
a structure that joins the single-family housing with the apartment
building, daycare/community center, and finally the footpath along
the levee. This structure defines productive public garden spaces
that detoxify the landscape and grow produce for the community.
It also provides a water reclamation channel that is fed by building
and site runoff.
Moving east to west, the strips become power generators. No longer
“neutral,” the strips of the apartment building become
highly specific by folding to create optimal angles for solar collection
throughout the day. This folded form also produces another commodity
for New Orleans: equally valuable shaded exterior space. The energy
producing yet translucent photovoltaic skin simultaneously provides
shade for the interior.
By elevating the apartments over parking and the first level of
the daycare/community center, a new Neutral Ground is created, a
floating public landscape that connects residents and the greater
community to the river views over the levee. The Neutral Ground
threads together multiple semi-public outdoor spaces and encourages
interaction between residents.
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