UNL architecture class designs, presents New Orleans replacement homes

Senior students in Architecture 411 at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln had a real-life challenge for a class project: designing new housing for New Orleans.

At a showcase from 1-3 p.m. Feb. 24 in the Architecture Hall Gallery, 10th and R streets, the architecture students will show their designs before sending them off to a national competition. Members of the public are welcome to attend, hear and see the prototypes designed to be new homes for hurricane-devastated areas of the community.

"Each student did their own design, with scale models, computer-aided design drawings and a display on a 30-by-40 (inch) board showing floor plans, sections and elevations from different perspectives," said architecture professor James Potter, who assigned the project. It ties in with a national competition sponsored by Architectural Record and Tulane University.

The challenge of the project was creating a modular or system design that could be pre-fabricated or built in modules on-site. Further, given the history of the area and the climate, the designs would have to withstand potential hurricanes, and blend with the culture, tradition and history of New Orleans.

Potter said other challenges included thinking through the transportability of the houses, how they would be constructed on site, as well as the sustainability of the housing project. The jury for the competition will look at all factors to determine the winner. Cash prizes and honorable mentions will be given on the national level.

"Some students are doing fairly traditional stick-built on-site construction, some are doing innovative floating buildings... there was a wide variety of ideas that the students came up with," Potter said. "Yet they had to be realistic.

"It was a really interesting project for all of us, just getting involved in a project with so much media coverage. Plus there was tons of information; probably the hardest was to sort through it and find what was useful information. The project definitely pushed the students in ways that they haven't been pushed in the past, this project made them go deeper into the problem."

CONTACT: James Potter, Professor, Architecture, (402) 472-9240