In the year since hurricanes ravaged the Gulf Coast, we’ve seen every approach and proposal under the sun for rebuilding. Competitions and charettes and forums and of course the notorious celebrity rescue squads. It’s good to see this much movement in all its forms, but it’s best to see real work happening on the ground. Architecture for Humanity just launched the Biloxi Model Home Program, and it’s all about getting real.
Immediately after the storms,
AFH began making plans, raising funds and soliciting volunteer hours for relief and reconstruction. While much attention was pointed towards New Orleans, AFH was talking to the communities of East Biloxi. The
Biloxi Model Home Program lays out an agenda for pairing disaster-struck families with architects, designers and engineers who can help them rebuild their homes in an affordable, sustainable way that considers local codes and a
changing climate.
According to the press release: “The pilot program is unique in that it offers families the opportunity to work one on one with architects and design professionals giving them access to expertise and design talent.” This expertise and design talent showed itself through an initial round of twelve architectural firms who developed proposals for the Model Home Program. Of those twelve, five final teams will be selected to implement their designs in Biloxi in early 2007.
All of the concepts utilize “the latest in materials research, disaster mitigation and sustainable building techniques,” says AFH, “We see this as an opportunity for architects to help set the bar for new construction in the area.”
See all 12 proposals here >.
Nice designs.
Only (2) of them would seem to have a chance of surviving articulating winds of 0 – 175 mph and 30 foot storm surges, however. Those are the Dan Rockhill and marlon Blackwell designs. Ideally, it would seem that constructing elevated Monolitic Dome would work best against these severe weather challenges. ( http://www.monolithic.com ) So it’s puxzzling to me that a Monolithic Dome Design did not make it as a ‘finalist’ ? Was that because none were submitted … or ????
For fans of rectangular structures… at the very least getting a concrete slab and steel reinforced concrete block structure elevated on piers seems indicated ? Good luck to all the hardy rebuilding souls in that region.
Richie,
We invited 12 firms for the first round. As the program grows we will begin to invite more groups.
Cheers
Cameron
[...] Despite the social and political factors involved in last years disaster, we can’t help but think that if the urban landscape and individual houses had been better designed, we never would have had such a massive disaster. There are many design solutions to the problems of hurricanes, flooding, and displacement, and we’ve spent the last year covering as many of them as we could: hurricane-resistant houses, flood-resistant houses, rebuilding competitions, and temporary shelter for people displaced by Hurrican Katrina. In case you missed any of it, here’s a recap: [...]
Reader,
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