[Images: Google map; 1763 Map via wikimedia; 1841 Map via wikimedia /Artwork: designslinger]

On the morning of August 28, 2005, Hurricane Katrina reached Category 5 status and by 1:00pm
reached peak strength with sustained winds of 175 mph. The monster storm struck New Orleans at 6:10 am, August 29th. And, so began one of the worst disasters in U.S. history. To commemorate the third anniversary I wanted to look back at my impressions of New Orleans during my first and only visit in Spring 2004, and the rebuilding of the city since that dreadful August week.  

[Images: New Orleans; digitaldefection, roman72 via flickr /Artwork: designslinger]

I had been listening to storied stories about New Orleans for years. I had seen hundreds of images
of the city's unique architectural heritage, and was remotely familiar with the famous French Quarter and Garden District neighborhoods. In February of 2004, we were asked to spend five weeks in the city to work on a TV pilot that was going to film there. It was not the same as living there by any stretch of the imagination, but longer than the typical 3-day convention stay. And, one of the great perks of working in the art department is having the opportunity to see places that the general public doesn't get to see. We looked at a variety of home interiors as part of the location scouting process, and had access to public buildings that were opened to the film community as a gesture of welcome to the Hollywood economic engine.

I had a few preconceived notions of what New Orleans was going to look like. Lots of beautiful
wrought iron, quaint Vieux Carre architecture, and a mish-mash of Georgian, Victorian, and Greek Revival style in the Garden District. Maybe we'd have the time to take one of the fabled street car's out to the District, and we would just avoid Bourbon Street altogether. I'd also get the opportunity to see the charmed decay of New Orleans in person. I wasn't disappointed. Everything you've ever heard about the "New Orleans" style is true, there really is no other U.S. city quite like it; New Orleans luxuriates in its uniqueness.

[Images: New Orleans; Jen*G, jwinfred, justuptown via flickr /Artwork: designslinger]

We explored beyond the touristy areas, and I saw neighborhoods that the majority of visitors
would never go into. Some were poverty stricken communities whose homes didn't look like the grand palaces of the French Quarter, but were still significant in the context of a singular urban architecture. The thing that surprised me the most was the overall feeling of a city that had been suffering economic hardship for decades. So many buildings crumbling, shuttered, especially in the downtown district where our production offices were located. Even though the Quarter was booming, and the hotels were filled with revelers and conventioneers, it felt like a city that was weary and worn out. And, frankly, after five weeks, I just didn't get the allure of the moldy walls, the falling plaster and the artistic "charm" of decay.

[Images: Flooded areas; katrinadestruction.com via google; Map, fas.org via google /Artwork: designslinger]

I was lucky to see the Crescent City before Katrina, because in the aftermath, my reflections today
would be of an entirely different nature. The Quarter survived relatively unscathed, as did half of the Garden District, and Bywater's Fauborg Marigny. Central City, the Business District, Mid-City, Uptown/Carrollton, Lakeview, all neighborhoods we became acquainted with, didn't fare as well. The scope of the devastation was hard to take in, there was just so much water, so much deep water in so many places.

[Images: New Orleans, post Katrina; Flood destroyed house, Thomas Hawk; Rebuilt homes, defpo via flickr /
Artwork: designslinger]

Today, three years later, the city is still in the rebuilding process. The tragedy exposed an utterly
ineffectual government, and raised serious urban planning issues. Some of the heaviest flooding occurred in areas well below sea level and not meant for human habitation. The rebuilt housing is taking its design inspiration from historical precedents, not necessarily with the best results. There is a debate within the architectural community, as well as in residential communities, about creating housing designed with 21st century appearance and not a bad rehash of the 19th. Katrina has given architects and urban planners a living, breathing incubator of fresh ideas and concepts in urban living. I wonder if I will be writing 10 years from now about the success of the "new" New Orleans, or if it will still be a city mired in conflict.