FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Should we rebuild New Orleans? When – and how – do we start? Architects, landscape architects, and engineers from across the country will gather at the University of Arkansas School of Architecture Dec. 10-11 to discuss these and other questions raised by Hurricane Katrina’s devastation. Project Locus, a national organization that fosters service by design professionals, and Re:Vision, an interdisciplinary group of UA students dedicated to community outreach, are organizing the conference.

"What we’re really trying to do is get people together in one room and figure out how to use our collective energy," said Patrick Rhodes, founder and executive director of Project Locus. "The conference is open to all people who are ready to get their hands dirty."

Photos of New Orleans in October of 2005.           CREDIT LINE: Photos courtesy of Bill Bowden

The Arkansas Summit follows "Re-inhabiting New Orleans," a limited attendance November conference at Tulane University’s School of Architecture that will focus on linking community and government representatives with resources within the architecture community.

In Fayetteville, discussion will focus on understanding the disaster, formulating a response, and looking beyond New Orleans.

"We want to develop a think tank, much like they do in the scientific community, so that we can anticipate and plan responses to global disasters rather than react to them," Rhodes said.

Confirmed speakers for the Arkansas Summit include the following:

• Dan Etheridge of the Center for Bioenvironmental Research at Tulane and Xavier universities, who will present on the causes and effects of the damage of Hurricane Katrina, the current state of affected areas, and findings from the November conference in New Orleans.

• Reed Kroloff, Dean of Tulane University School of Architecture, who will discuss the changing roles of professionals and academic institutions in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, an international competition for students and design professionals "to help design the future of New Orleans," and Tulane City Center, a collaborative series of design-build studios hosted by the Tulane School of Architecture.

• Bryan Bell, founder and director of the non-profit organization Design Corps, will discuss the efficacy of design-build, community-based design programs and the architecture community’s role in preparing for and responding to global poverty, natural disasters and humanitarian crises around the world.

 

Ultimately, conference organizers hope to generate action.

"Going down to New Orleans to improve a bad situation – that’s exciting, and a far cry from sitting at a desk, " said Jared Hueter, a fourth-year architecture student who serves as president of Re:Vision. "In its simplest form, architecture is about serving people, and my goal is to understand how that works in the real world."

Several national design organizations are planning a response to Katrina, but the Arkansas Summit stands out for its inclusive, hands-on approach to the disaster.

"It’s such a complex issue," Rhodes said. "We’ve got to think about historic preservation, engineering problems, sustainability, and the cultural fabric of New Orleans. The more people you have working on a problem, the better the solution you come up with."

Representatives from Design Corps, Architecture for Humanity, CityWorks Los Angeles and Archinect will join Project Locus and Re:Vision at the Arkansas conference. Participating academic institutions include the University of Arkansas, Tulane University, Harvard University Graduate School of Design, Kansas State University, and the University of Southern California, among others. The UA School of Architecture and the Fayetteville Convention and Visitors Bureau have provided funding and organizational support.

To learn more about the conference and Project Locus, visit http://www.projectlocus.org/

To learn more about Re:Vision, visit http://www.projectlocus.org/revision.htm