While the old Tulane University nick-name, "Green Wave", does not bring to mind a good impression for the hurricane-ravaged region of New Orleans, Louisiana (NOLA), the term they now brandish moving forward is perfect - "New Wave" - and new wave the institution has become, and all forces their leaders can muster are now directed at rebuilding every aspect of their community, spanning several states of the Gulf South and addressing every imaginable physical and social challenge.
I receive daily updates from Tulane on their progress and am usually so impressed I feel the need to share insight from there, up here in North East Ohio (NEO), as we attempt a less demanding but as important restructuring of NEO from post-industrial toxic failure to a healthy "New Economy". The first positive outcomes of this sharing has been Case University trustees tapping of the leader of Tulane, President Cowen, and other global university leaders to assist with the rebuilding of Case, which recently lost its leadership in a faculty-led revolution proving no-confidence. There are many other opportunities for success in NEO by implementing processes and models from NOLA, and I'll share one below [1] we may implement immediately for significant change in a very short term.
PLANS FOR RENEWAL IN ST. BERNARD
By Arthur Nead
Tulane University's Regional Urban Design Center and Waggoner & Ball Architects of New Orleans recently received an Honor Award in Planning from the American Institute of Architects—New Orleans for the recovery plan they created for St. Bernard Parish.
"The chairman of the St. Bernard Citizens Recovery Committee called me in September, when I was still in New York. They said they had heard about our work in Covington and Mandeville, that we came highly recommended and they really wanted us to help them," says Grover Mouton [2], adjunct associate professor of architecture and director of the Tulane Regional Urban Design Center. "At the end of September, Nick Jenisch, associate architect at the center, and I went to meet them. I couldn't believe the destruction—it was unparalleled."
Mouton agreed the center would work on a renewal plan for St. Bernard, but with Tulane closed and students and faculty scattered everywhere, outside help was needed. So he asked New Orleans architects David Waggonner and Mac Ball to join in the project.
"We started working in October, and Mac and David started in January. We worked closely together as a team," says Mouton.
The plan [3] identifies high-priority civic and social needs of the parish, and provides conceptual guidance for each project area. Read more [4]
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