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Starchitects Invited to New Orleans Waterfront
November 7, 2006
The New Orleans Building Corporation, a public benefit corporation that owns, develops, and operates properties owned by the city, is turning to big-name architects to help develop a stretch of the city’s riverfront.
On November 3 the group announced five finalist teams made up of architects, urban planners, landscape architects, engineers, and consultants. Architects on the teams include Zaha Hadid with Baton Rouge-based Trahan Architects; New York–based Reiser + Umemoto with New Orleans–based Studio Matrixx; Frank Gehry, FAIA; Mexican firm TEN Arquitectos with New Orleans–based Eskew+Dumez+Ripple; and Studio Daniel Libeskind with New Orleans–based Mathes Brieere Architects.
“I’m thrilled that people recognized at the top of their profession have stepped up,†says the building corporation’s executive director Sean Cummings, a local hotel developer. “It would be really exciting for this community to do something very contemporary that is still based in this place.†The group had issued a request for qualifications on September 18, sending special invitations to big names including Gehry, Santiago Calatrava, FAIA, Richard Rogers, Morphosis, Rem Koolhas, Norman Foster, Hadid, SOM, Rafael Viñoly, FAIA, SHoP Architects, and Field Operations. The corporation has a $500,000 budget for its search.
The potential development zone includes a largely derelict 4.5-mile stretch of the north bank of the Mississippi River between Jackson Avenue and the Industrial Canal, which now includes mostly wharves and port facilities. It borders the Lower Garden district, the warehouse district, the French Quarter, Marigny, and Baywater.
The RFQ calls for new commercial, cultural, park, and transportation uses for the area, and for maintaining cruise and cargo operations. This, says Cummings, could include a continuous park with walking and bike paths, museums, a large performance venue, a culinary university campus, and modern cruise ship terminals. He stresses that the area will be oriented to public facilities, not â€condominiums and private property.â€
Besides wharves, the area already includes several hotels, the city’s Morial Convention Center, its Aquarium of the Americas, Jax Brewery, and a riverside promenade.
“As far as architecture,†Cummings says, “New Orleans has been a fairly insular community. We now have a chance to reach out to some of the finest minds in the world. It’s time to elevate our game.†The RFQ, however, urged â€visionary, yet practical responses,†adding, “Respondents are urged to think outside the box, but to remember that the box must still be built at an affordable price.â€
The New Orleans Building Corporation will select a winning team on November 29. Cummings says that once a selection is made, the corporation will investigate funding. It is unclear how elegantly nearby neighborhood plans will meld with the winning scheme. Not far from the New Orleans Superdome, for example, Strategic Hotels CEO Laurence Geller has hired Thom Mayne, FAIA, to plan a $700 million development that, if realized, would include a refurbished Hyatt Hotel, a performing arts center and museum, a new courthouse, and several new residential buildings. Several sets of planning guidelines have been completed or are underway.
Starchitects Invited to New Orleans Waterfront
November 7, 2006
The New Orleans Building Corporation, a public benefit corporation that owns, develops, and operates properties owned by the city, is turning to big-name architects to help develop a stretch of the city’s riverfront.
On November 3 the group announced five finalist teams made up of architects, urban planners, landscape architects, engineers, and consultants. Architects on the teams include Zaha Hadid with Baton Rouge-based Trahan Architects; New York–based Reiser + Umemoto with New Orleans–based Studio Matrixx; Frank Gehry, FAIA; Mexican firm TEN Arquitectos with New Orleans–based Eskew+Dumez+Ripple; and Studio Daniel Libeskind with New Orleans–based Mathes Brieere Architects.
“I’m thrilled that people recognized at the top of their profession have stepped up,†says the building corporation’s executive director Sean Cummings, a local hotel developer. “It would be really exciting for this community to do something very contemporary that is still based in this place.†The group had issued a request for qualifications on September 18, sending special invitations to big names including Gehry, Santiago Calatrava, FAIA, Richard Rogers, Morphosis, Rem Koolhas, Norman Foster, Hadid, SOM, Rafael Viñoly, FAIA, SHoP Architects, and Field Operations. The corporation has a $500,000 budget for its search.
The potential development zone includes a largely derelict 4.5-mile stretch of the north bank of the Mississippi River between Jackson Avenue and the Industrial Canal, which now includes mostly wharves and port facilities. It borders the Lower Garden district, the warehouse district, the French Quarter, Marigny, and Baywater.
The RFQ calls for new commercial, cultural, park, and transportation uses for the area, and for maintaining cruise and cargo operations. This, says Cummings, could include a continuous park with walking and bike paths, museums, a large performance venue, a culinary university campus, and modern cruise ship terminals. He stresses that the area will be oriented to public facilities, not â€condominiums and private property.â€
Besides wharves, the area already includes several hotels, the city’s Morial Convention Center, its Aquarium of the Americas, Jax Brewery, and a riverside promenade.
“As far as architecture,†Cummings says, “New Orleans has been a fairly insular community. We now have a chance to reach out to some of the finest minds in the world. It’s time to elevate our game.†The RFQ, however, urged â€visionary, yet practical responses,†adding, “Respondents are urged to think outside the box, but to remember that the box must still be built at an affordable price.â€
The New Orleans Building Corporation will select a winning team on November 29. Cummings says that once a selection is made, the corporation will investigate funding. It is unclear how elegantly nearby neighborhood plans will meld with the winning scheme. Not far from the New Orleans Superdome, for example, Strategic Hotels CEO Laurence Geller has hired Thom Mayne, FAIA, to plan a $700 million development that, if realized, would include a refurbished Hyatt Hotel, a performing arts center and museum, a new courthouse, and several new residential buildings. Several sets of planning guidelines have been completed or are underway.