Lower Ninth Ward Community Space Project

urban agglomeration: strategies for remaking

AUDREY CROPP and PETER GRAVES

Remaking Community Space Transcribing pre-Katrina front porch typologies into a new urban park.

project narrative When driving through the Lower Ninth Ward, it seems obvious that the neighborhood has not fully recovered from devastating population loss following Hurricane Katrina. A cursory survey of the neighborhood reveals many abandoned homes, vacant lots, crumbling streets, and overgrown yards. What’s more difficult to see is the thriving community that once existed there, between the yards and front porches of the individual homeowners.

The proposal for a community park at Alabo and St. Claude based on this concept of community space created by that one architectural feature - the front porch- aims to amalgamate

those individual, private spaces into a large public park that the entire community can enjoy. With the rebuilding successes in the Holy Cross Historic District, the park will be an important link in community rebuilding by reaching across St. Claude Avenue towards the still-struggling lakeside reaches of the ward.

The transformation of the vernacular front porch typology allows community residents to take collective ownership of the park. It’s a place that reflects the people of the community and is a critical step in continuing the regrowth of the Lower Ninth Ward.

site plan- front porch community park

In New Orleans, the front porch has become an iconic symbol of communities that thrive on interpersonal relationships, neighborly interaction, and a sense of watching over the neighborhood.

In 2012, the population of the Lower Ninth Ward neighborhood has only returned to 24% of its previous numbers. The once bustling residences with their characteristic front porches, streets, and sidewalks have been razed by the City leaving large open fields.

Even though the neighborhood’s population has been reduced by 76 percent, the sense of close-knit community is as strong as ever. Civic spaces like the Ninth Ward Village and the recently reopened Oliver Bush Park contribute strongly to that sense of community, but there is something missing. The residential architecture of the neighborhood is diminished and more spread out, and the ease with which residents socialize has decreased as well.

The largest and most prominent feature of the proposed park is the community front porch structure.

It is envisioned that the structure will consist of a series of oversized steps inset from each other in a semicircular pattern, providing views of the neighborhood, relaxation and recreation space, and access to the rooftop terrace and garden.

existing site conditions

terrace structure section

The porch structure itself is composed of medium-texture concrete, molded lightweight polystyrene blocks for support, and planted throughout with grasses, which gently slope in between the concrete steps, providing for a soft place to sit, recline, or have a picnic. Programmatically, the porch fulfills a wide variety of roles. Its semi-circular shape provides a 180-degree option for views both towards busy St. Claude Avenue and back towards the basketball court and the Village community center.

The Lower Ninth Ward and the Holy Cross Historic District are separated by St. Claude Avenue, a highly-trafficked road often used for commercial trucking and commuting through the neighborhood. It’s an imposing physical barrier to riverside-lakeside access throughout the area. The proposed site is at the juncture between the Holy Cross Historic District and the Lower Ninth Ward, creating a slowed-traffic zone four blocks wide and allowing for alternative transportation types. The current front porch typology fronting the street on St. Claude is a result of scattered residential and commercial development with a high rate of abandoned buildings and vacant lots. The proposed park will provide both a solution for

screen wall locations

proposed screen wall details

proposed stormwater flow diagram

the cohesion of public space within the neighborhood, and also acts as a catalyst for safe alternative transportation such as walking, bicycling, and public transit.

The Lower Ninth Ward neighborhood is one of the many genuine and distinctive neighborhoods in New Orleans. The term “resilient� is used quite often to describe the people of New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, and it especially applies to those in the Lower Ninth Ward, who have valiantly struggled to overcome significant damages. With new restaurants coming in, schools and parks reopening, and homes being rebuilt, there is a lot to hope for in the future. With only twentyfive percent of the pre-K population having returned, this resurgence in the community is astonishing.

That same sense of resilience and permanence is reflected back to the community in the design for the community park. A singular paved walkway leads from the terraced porch structure across Alabo Street into the community garden space. The planned community garden is on a scale as yet unseen in the Lower Ninth Ward, acting as a central place for food production for residents both lakeside and riverside of St. Claude Avenue.

truck loading center concept sketch

An additional multi-use space, shaded by a trellis, provides a place for food trucks and other mobile vendors to set up on a busy weekend or festival atmosphere. Continuing on the path provides for safe, wide walkways crossing St. Claude Avenue at Alabo Street, approaching the historic McDonogh School and opening onto a memorial space.