buildingstudio’s botanical gardens in New Orleans Park, Louisiana, was a project inspired by the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.
Post-Katrina, the City of New Orleans Botanical Garden commissioned a small demonstration pavilion to show firsthand how gray water reuse, rainwater harvesting and solar power might work for the average homeowner. Inside the pavilion is more information about how residents can reduce their carbon footprint while making a more pleasant living environment.
This project is a 12-ft. cube covered in aluminum screens (high-content, post-consumer) on three sides with an interior made of reclaimed lumber from homes demolished by the storm. The structure is framed in eco-friendly-treated lumber with the west wall screen made of bamboo grown on site at the Botanical Garden.
More about the environmental considerations:
Water is harvested from the pavilion roof, channeled through the structure’s interior via an open downspout that spills onto a catch basin in the floor. From there, the water cleansing demonstration relies on native water plants in a sandy-medium trough. Cleansed water is collected in the wetlands demonstration area which is a holding pool for a vertical garden wall.
This living wall, with plants native to the region, extends out from the pavilion’s interior. The vegetation grows in horizontal planting trays which were once conduit chases for off-shore oil rigs from the region. (in typical home use the living wall could easily become a vertical vegetable garden that relied on gray water). A photovoltaic array to harness the sun’s energy operates the pavilion’s electrical components.
The project was built by buildingstudio and graduates of the Tulane University School of Architecture City Center.
The “Front and Back” apartment is a single space designed by h2o Architects for a young Parisian advertising executive also avid collector of comics. He wanted his apartment to be fun and fresh, but calming. His original apartment design was very confusing and hodge-podge — it had 6 tiny rooms squished together (the entryway had 7 doors!). I like all the little cubbies — what do you think?
More from the architects:
The new design offers a continuous wide open space which expands, becomes more complex or dense depending on orientations and uses. These variances are defined by the variable geometries and the usable thickness of the casework and walls. A study on sculpting these depths allowed to create a variety of cavities, niches and alcoves. The sculpted shapes vary in size and colors to adapt to multiple functions in different locations. They can harbor either the vast collection of comics or a bar, a bathroom, a closet, and so on.
The front side of each shape always maintains its negative volume on the back. Behind the scenes can unveiled new uses taking place like cupboards, a desk, video, shelves, etc… In this manner, the apartment is continuously renewed and cross-views can become through-views.
