Building in the aftermath

The National Building Museum will sponsor a series of educational sessions exploring the impact of Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita on architecture, engineering, preservation, and urbanism. The first presentation will be given on Monday, November 14.

America faces unprecedented challenges as it preserves, restores, and where necessary, rebuilds New Orleans and the Gulf Coast after the destruction of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Many complex questions require both immediate and long-term attention: housing the homeless, preservation of the region’s rich architectural history, the re-design of towns and entire urban neighborhoods, the restoration of protective ecosystems, and needed engineering improvements to the infrastructure, among other matters.

The National Building Museum, in collaboration with major nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and private industry, is organizing a series of symposia and lectures titled Building in the Aftermath. The series will bring together experts from many disciplines to examine reconstruction plans as they evolve over the next year or two.

The series is sponsored by Lafarge North America, the American Planning Association, and the American Society of Landscape Architects.

November 14
Rebuilding the “Big Easy” – Not So Easy
Monday, 6:30 – 8:30 pm
Ideas about the future of New Orleans have ranged the gamut from proposals to level entire neighborhoods to calls to preserve as many historic structures as possible. What is undisputable is that New Orleans is one of the world’s great cities, with an unparalleled architectural and cultural legacy. It is also becoming clear that a significant percentage of the city’s buildings are either intact, only modestly damaged, or substantially salvageable, meaning that some of the early calls for “moving” New Orleans greatly overstated the extent of the destruction. Even so, the task of preserving, restoring, and, where necessary, rebuilding is enormous and will require difficult decisions.

A distinguished panel of leaders in urban planning, landscape architecture, historic preservation, engineering, and architecture will each share advice about the best strategies for rebuilding the “Big Easy,” before engaging in a free-wheeling, moderated discussion. 2.0 CEUs
Robert Ivy, FAIA, editor-in-chief of Architectural Record, will moderate.
Panelists will include:
Paul Farmer, AICP, executive director, American Planning Association
Suzanne Turner, FASLA, emerita professor of landscape architecture, Louisiana State University
Richard Moe, president, National Trust for Historic Preservation
Thomas Campanella, assistant professor of urban planning at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and co-editor of The Resilient City: How Modern Cities Recover from Disaster
Angela O’Bryne, AIA, president, American Institute of Architects, New Orleans
Henry Hatch, former chief of the US Army Corps of Engineers (invited)

This session costs $12 for members of the Museum, American Planning Association, American Society of Landscape Architects, American Society of Civil Engineers, National Trust for Historic Preservation, and American Institute of Architects; $17 nonmembers; $10 students. Prepaid registration required.
To register, call (202) 272-2448.

December 2
Housing in the Wake of Katrina and Other Disasters
Friday, 9:30 am – 12:00 pm
The National Building Museum has joined the American Planning Association (APA) and its professional institute, the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP), to present a half-day symposium exploring the short- and long-term housing issues that governments, planners, and residents of the hurricane-devastated region face. What are the post-disaster planning issues, and what steps should be taken to better prepare for future disasters? This symposium features experts fresh from inspection of the ravaged areas and also with experience in disasters overseas. 2.5 CPDs for AICP members; 2.5 CEUs for AIA members.
Panelists will include:
Fernando Costa, AICP, Planning Director at Fort Worth, Texas, is leading a special volunteer six-member team of planners assembled by APA in New Orleans to assess the city’s needs for developing and implementing plans to guide redevelopment in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. (invited)
Franck Daphnis, president and CEO of Development Innovations Group, Silver Spring, Maryland, expert on international housing and post-disaster planning. He has worked in more than 30 countries, including countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Middle East, and most recently helped devise reconstruction strategies in Pakistan after the earthquake.
Jim Schwab, AICP, senior research associate at the American Planning Association and published authority on planning issues related to natural disaster. He was principal investigator and primary author of Planning for Post Disaster Recovery and Redevelopment (1998).
Sue Schwartz, FAICP, president of the American Institute of Certified Planners, and Neighborhood Planning Division Manger, Housing & Community Development in Greensboro, N.C., will serve as moderator.

This event costs $15 for museum and APA members; $22 nonmembers; $12 students. Prepaid registration required. To register, call (202) 272-2448.