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Katrina flooding demonstrated clear areas where high ground might provide an opportunity for locating rescue, recovery and shelter. This proposal uses the high ground to establish a network of community centers which would connect different neighborhoods throughout the city, creating a branch system of small ones within neighborhoods, large ones along higher ridges. Each structure would be both independent (for the everyday) and connected (in times of crisis). Major nodes connect via the neighborhoods to form the outer layer of the branch system and provide the greatest protection from the flooding. Disconnected from the city by the Industrial Canal, this building and site represents the node connecting the historic Holy Cross and "Lower Nine" neighborhoods. Set between a park and a major bus and car route, this community center would draw residents from both neighborhoods, each rich with its own history and character.
The building's jazz, cooking and art program drives the concept, developed from the idea of improvisation. The building is organized with flexible walls and a main core, similar to the roux of cooking or the chords or scales of jazz, which serves as the storage, circulation and plumbing core. It enables users to modify the structure according to their temporal needs. The concrete core and glass and steel stairways provide rigidity and structure, while the lightweight wood walls and doors impart modularity and mobility. The walls exist as the canvas upon which the children and elderly may act. Moreover, they open for cross-ventilation during warmer weather and close or move for crisis preparation during hurricane season or other emergencies.