"Modern New Orleans :: One of the finest and most progressive cities in the United States"

What a gem! Found this brilliant clip today on YouTube via CoolIris. This short film includes fantastic aerial views and streetscapes of the River, downtown (the "Parisian" Cafe du Monde) uptown (Tulane - and some grand "suburban" homes) Shushan Airport and Canal Street, Roosevelt Hotel, Charity Hospital, fabulous cars, men in suits and hats. A must see. Unfortunately, I can't embed the video here, but click on the icon and it will take you to YouTube. Enjoy!

Modernism : Lost and FOUND!

Petrolane, 1352 Jefferson Highway, originally uploaded by regional.modernism. Charles L. Franck Photographers. The Historic New Orleans Collection

Mystery solved :: Architect of the Petrolane building on Jefferson Highway was F. Monroe Labouisse

Milton Scheuermann (Tulane School of Architecture class of 1956, member of TSA faculty for 50 years and counting) recollects:

"The building was designed by F. Monroe Labouisse, who at that time was partner in the firm of Goldstein, Parham & Labouisse. In fact, it was that building that made me decide that I wanted to work for the firm and I got my summer job as a 3rd year student with them. I had the greatest admiration for Labouisse.

Leaving New Orleans on Jefferson Highway the building was on the right at the last right turn of the S Curve leading to Ochsner Hospital after crossing the railroad tracks after entering into Jefferson Parish. I actually remember seeing the drawings for the building in the office as well as Labouisse's sketches. I believe there were only 2 or 3 sheets. It made my day!!!"

Thanks Milton! You just made my day.

Neo-Geo Notebook

MapWarper, originally uploaded by regional.modernism.

Andrew Turner came to New Orleans last week to meet up with NetSquared New Orleans and faculty at the Tulane School of Architecture. Both meetings were quite informative and very valuable. These are a few of my notes.

1. MapWarper. This tool is in development and indeed comes with the following warning: Proto-Alpha - expect it to break and stuff to get deleted!

MapWarper is a tool for creating a custom basemap. My source map was from a Tulane student project in 1950, documented on 35mm slide and scanned into the New Orleans Virtual Archive. Basically the user indicates matching points between two maps. And a new map layer is born. I picked a tricky source, so my map is a bit more warped than it should be. I asked Andrew about the next step after MapWarper and I think that's where it flies a bit over my head. Nevertheless a cool tool to play with a have a better understanding of how one could create a custom basemap for a presentation. I would love to have a virtual library of historic basemaps stored in layers, so one could view data on different maps. Just layering two maps together can provide some interesting information about the changes in urban fabric over time.
2. EyeFi Explore. This is a souped up memory card. It can automatically upload photos to your computer or online photo storage service, like flickr or picasa. It also geocodes the photos (and records this info in photo EXIF profile) IF there is a wireless hotspot. I used this card last week in a trial session. It worked fairly well, but was unfortunately not accurate enough. And was of course ineffective in sites without wireless hotspots, like the Lower Ninth Ward. Interesting tool, but not as good as a gps.

3. Flickr Commons. Another great resource. Some top institutions (Library of Congress, Smithsonian) are uploading archival images with no known copyright restrictions to the Flickr Commons for all to use. The Commons encourages the public to assist with the description and tagging of the photos.

4. SlideShare. This service allows one to upload a powerpoint or keynote presentation. Very nice. Review Andrew's presentation at Tulane here: Rebuilding a City through Community Participation, Neogeography and GIS

Many thanks, Andrew!

21st century in the 11th ward

UrbanBuild Prototype 03, originally uploaded by regional.modernism.

This is a whole lotta house on a seriously small lot. The Tulane URBANbuild Protoype 03 house is approaching completion at Seventh and Dryades in Central City. Students developed multiple protoypes in a semester-long design studio prior to the build this spring. The design is sensitive to our vernacular architecture in spirit, but not in style. The house is raised on piers to protect it from minor street flooding and benefit from a cooling breeze underfoot. The mandatory front porch is ample and inviting. An upper balcony provides a more discreet view of the street theater that often unfolds in the neighborhood.

The URBANbuild house may not have the brackets or columns and cast iron details that typify our 19th century housing, but it is not a replica of a facsimile.* It has integrity. As the students labor to complete the house in the next few weeks, stop by and check it out. This is a fine example of Regional Modernism.

* Much of the new housing being constructed in the city are pale and cheap imitations of our historic architecture.