Stitching the Neighborhood – DSGN4100 – Advanced Studio Elective · Fall Semester 2010 · Professor Kenneth Gowland, RA · 12 weeks
Stitching the Neighborhood: Bayou (St. John) Bazaar creates a centralizing force out of Bayou St. John, which had previous importance in New Orleans, but has fallen out of favor and now divides the Mid-City Neighborhood that surrounds it. By taking aspects of scale, rhythm and use from the surrounding context, a new fabric is stitched into the neighborhood that creates a cohesive whole once again. The bazaar serves as both a neighborhood market and as a formalized festival ground, utilizing aspects of vernacular architecture’s response to the New Orleans climate to create an Urban Veranda/Amenity that plays host to festivals (drawing in people from all over New Orleans) and the everyday need of supplying the neighborhood with goods.