EDRA PLACES Awards 2007
In addition to publishing thought-provoking articles that reach beyond the boundaries on what we know about place, Places also recognizes those who have produced outstanding design work that surpasses those same boundaries. Each year, it pairs with the Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA) to hold a competition that seeks outstanding examples of place-centered research, design, and planning. The winning projects are featured on the pages of the journal as well as this website and in a presentation at the EDRA annual meeting. In conjunction with the Design History Foundation, Places also gives the PlaceMark Award to distinguished design professionals who have enriched the language, art and science of places. The PlaceMark Award is awarded at the discretion of the Design History Foundation.
The House of Dance and Feathers Mardi Gras Indian Museum
Project Locus: Patrick Rhodes, Executive Director Lower Ninth Ward, New Orleans, LA
The project was conceived by a small nonprofit development corporation to promote the rebuilding of one of the most devastated areas of New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. It involved design and construction of a small museum dedicated to the Mardis Gras culture of New Orleans' African American community and the reconstruction of the residence of its curator, Ronald Lewis. Pre-Katrina, the House of Dance and Feathers had been located in Lewis's renovated garage, and contained memorabilia from his life as founder and participant in the Big 9 Social Aid and Pleasure Club, an integral part of life in the Lower Ninth Ward. Soon after residents were allowed to return to their devastated neighborhood, Lewis pledged to rebuild the museum and his house, even though he had no way of carrying it out himself.
The jury commented that the project was enormously sophisticated for its extremely limited budget. Its impact on the community and the lives of those who worked on it was also clearly evident. During the summer of 2006 it was the only ongoing public construction project in its area; and in the absence of larger institutional or government support, it showed the power of small organizations and individuals to respond to crises using localized design-build strategies. Today, the museum is testimony that rebuilding can occur in New Orleans' low-lying, low-income communities.
The project emerged from a series of university conferences on rebuilding New Orleans, followed by the establishment of a national consortium of schools (CITYbuild), and the initiation of a number of independent design-build projects. The museum itself was constructed by student volunteers from Kansas State, Harvard, Berkeley, Tulane, Illinois Institute of Technology, Washington University—St. Louis, and Virginia Tech. Other project partners were the Tulane City Center, Tulane University; the University of Montana Department of Environmental Studies; Common Ground; and the Green Project. Donors included the Charles Engelhart Foundation, Barry M. Downing Foundation, Lucite International, Flavor Paper, Lighting Inc., General Electric, LJ Goldstein, Grainger, Linweld, National Polyfab, Sherwin Williams New Orleans, Palram, Dan Etheridge and Rachel Breunlin.
