TSA in the News

ARCHITECTURE’S CITY FOCUS BRINGS ACCOLADES

November 25, 2009

Carol J. Schlueter
cjs@tulane.edu

More than four years after Hurricane Katrina, the Tulane School of Architecture continues to garner national attention for its community projects focused on the renewal of New Orleans, the latest coming in the school's ranking as one of the nation's "Hidden Gems of Architecture Education."

Tulane School of Architecture students work on the school's fourth URBANbuild home in New Orleans' Central City neighborhood. Students design and build the homes as part of class projects. (Photo by Emilie Taylor)

At the same time that the prestigious DesignIntelligence published the ranking, it also named the school's dean, Kenneth Schwartz, among its 25 "Most Admired Educators of 2010."

The ranking positions the Tulane school among five programs that are "doing incredible things, pushing the boundaries of education innovation, partnering with private firms in enterprising new ways and developing the next generation of design thought leaders," the publication says.

One of Tulane's premier programs, URBANbuild, is in the spotlight as well. The fourth URBANbuild home, designed and constructed by Tulane architecture students under the leadership of URBANbuild director Byron Mouton, is featured in a lengthy article in the December/January 2010 issue of Dwell magazine.

For Schwartz, the ranking underscores the dedication, creativity and hard work of the school's students and faculty, who are energizing a school that has provided traditionally strong architectural education for more than 100 years.

"Students and faculty have been extraordinarily effective in their partnerships with nonprofit organizations on projects ranging from individual design-build houses to farmers' markets and planning strategies for rebuilding neighborhoods," Schwartz says. "They embody the best qualities of civic engagement that are so important to Tulane University today and indeed for the community."

Now in his second year as dean at Tulane, Schwartz says that his academic career at the University of Virginia and what he calls "the Tulane bump" — "the challenge and opportunity of this amazing city and its recovery" — influenced his position on the list of admired architecture educators.

Schwartz says, "Coming here 1 1/2 years ago changes the equation. It was an opportunity to change venues and try to make a difference."

Extracted from Tulane New Wave 25 November 2009.

New Orleans Houses of the Future

The November 2009 issue of The Atlantic features Wayne Curtis's article "Houses of the Future," which addresses the new post-K domestic architecture:

"Four years after the levee failures, New Orleans is seeing an unexpected boom in architectural experimentation. Small, independent developers are succeeding in getting houses built where the government has failed. And the city's unique challenges--among them environmental impediments, an entrenched culture of leisure, and a casual acquaintance with regulation--are spurring design innovations that may redefine American architecture for a generation."

Curtis highlights five structures, including Tulane University School of Architecture's URBANBuild Prototype 04, located in Central City at 2036 Seventh Street. To see an interactive map of the featured buildings, click here.

In November 2007, Robin Pogrebin, writing for The New York Times, referred to the new New Orleans architecture as "posthurricane vernacular" and named the emerging styles: the Defensive, the Defiant, and the Do Good. To read/see more, click here.

There is another ever-present form as well: the Demolished.

Tulane School of Architecture on Sundance

The Sundance Channel has announced the launch of its new reality series "Architecture School," which was filmed during the 2007-2008 academic year at Tulane University's School of Architecture (TSA):

"The six-part series from creators Michael Selditch and Stan Bertheaud follows a group of students at Tulane University's prestigious School of Architecture as they submit competing designs for an affordable home in Katrina-battered New Orleans. The stakes are high: the winning model will be built during the course of the school year and put up for sale, enabling one fledgling architect to begin his or her career with a high-profile splash.

ARCHITECTURE SCHOOL opens a window onto the art and science of architecture while telling a unique and uplifting story about the literal rebuilding of New Orleans. Filmed during the 2007-2008 school year, the series follows the construction of the third home in Tulane University's URBANbuild program, which offers fourth-year architecture students the opportunity to design and build a low-cost single-family home over the course of the school year. Founded in 2005, URBANbuild is a partnership between Tulane's School of Architecture and Neighborhood Housing Services of New Orleans (N.H.S.), a nonprofit agency that works to restore urban neighborhoods."

The series premieres on August 20, 2008. "The Big Idea," the first episode, is available on-line through hulu.

Tulane School of Architecture 1973: Studio Presentation, First Year Design, Fall Semester [Box 7, Tulane School of Architecture Records Collection, Southeastern Architectural Archive, Special Collections Division, Tulane University Libraries].