Seaside Parti

DAY 11
In a earlier post I mentioned that Matt gad made a game or rather a scavenger hunt/knowledge testing game for the day in which he was coordinator. There were also 3 top prizes for completing the sheet. Well done Matt.

Sea Lab Institute Of Dauphin Island

Dauphin Island is a barrier island at the mouth of Mobile Bay in Alabama. Once at the Sea Lab we met with Dr. George Crozier, the Executive Director of Sea Lab. George gave us a tour of the lab and of the Estuarium/Public Aquarium across the road as well as a personal slide show explaining coastal ecology. George geared the slide show towards architects and explained the complications and issues that we would face when building along the coastline.

A freak thunder storm came upon us within minutes. The rain was so intense that we had to wait until it stopped to cross the street. The storm only lasted for 30 minutes is quite normal on the island.


All of the plugs in the building are two to three feet above ground for flooding reasons.
Marine biologists will take out fish's ear bones and a machine is used to cut through them. Fish ear bones have growth rings which allow biologists to see how old the fish was.


The auditorium room. Unlike the auditorium in the Dal architecture building, this room, and all the rooms in the building are equipped with CO2 detection systems. Therefore when there are more people in the room and the CO2 rises a unit will kick in and force more air into the room.

Gehry, Ohr O'Keefe Museum, Biloxi MS

The Ohr O'Keefe Museum was designed by Frank Gehry and is currently under reconstruction after Hurricane Katrina literally washed a giant casino barge onto the museum construction. The only building that we were allowed into at the time was The Pleasant Reed Interpretive Center.





The hurricane was so strong that the brick facade was torn off.

Madeleine Cenac's House

DAY 7
Ed Cazayoux, who gave us a tour of the French Chateau Tower also gave us a tour of these houses. This house is from the 1840s and was moved here from another site. Originally, this house did not have plumbing or electricity. This style of house would have the boys upstairs and the girls bedroom would be downstairs attached to the masters bedroom. I also found a link to an article on this house as well called Bayou Beauty.



If I remember correctly I think that Madeleine's son is a metal sculpture artist and has sculptures all over the site.



There was no one home at the time but this dog (who I've named James) came out to meet us. Just like Charles the cat, he came out from no where.

Chateau Tower

DAY 7
This tower in the Breaux Bridge area of Louisiana is actually a house that was constructed in a French style. It is hidden down a private road in the forest and the only reason that we are able to see it is because we had an escort. What is also cool about it is that there is a moat surrounding the tower which has ALLIGATORS and turtles living in it. Unfortunately the owner of the building was in France while we were there so we were not able to go inside.






This is a view of the only way into the building because of the mote.

McGee's Atchafalaya Basin Swamp Tour

Our tour guide for the swamp tour was born and raised on the Atchafalaya Basin Swamp. During our tour he talked a lot about the expulsion of the Acadians down into this area of the southern US. He told us that the Acadians used to live in communities of houses on floating logs and that his grandfather used to drive the school boat.

This particular alligator was well trained by our tour guide because when we floated into a little cove off of the swamp, he started banging on the side of the boat calling to her. After a few bangs the alligator came, knowing it would get a meal. Our guide then threw some meat into the water for her.

All of the trees here are called Cyprus Trees.

Swamp Jesus



The moss that grows from the Cyprus trees is called Spanish Moss and this moss lively entirely off of the moisture in the air. The Acadians used to use this moss to fill pillows and stuff in the cracks of walls of their homes, along with many other applications. Apparently, Henry Ford also used Spanish Moss to stuff his car seats.




Trahan, Holy Rosary Catholic Church, St. Amante LA

The Holy Rosary Church was designed by Trahan Architects and is located at 44450 Highway 429 in St. Amant. The church seems to be made entirely of concrete and glass. There were quite a few buckets in one of the buildings due to rainwater that was leaking inside the building through the light fixtures as well as streaks running down the concrete everywhere on the exterior. Even though the church is not very old, because of the leaking and water stains, it had a much older look. Despite all this, it was still a beautiful church. Unfortunately the church was closed when we arrived.











Shaw Center, Baton Rouge LA

We didn't have time to go into the Shaw Center because we were on our way to Lousiana State University. It was such a large building that it was hard to photograph from the outside.


A connection detail between to panels of glass on the exterior of the building.


A water feature out infront of the Shaw Center. Justin was dared to jump over the fountains when they were not spurting water, but, unfortunately he timed it wrong and got drenched.
We had lunch at Poor Boys Llyods. They had great rootbeer floats.

Hollygrove Growers Market & Farm With Pavilion

Hollygrove Growers Market is located at 8301 Olive St. in the heart of New Orleans. This neighborhood suffered a lot of damage after Hurricane Katrina and needs extensive re-development. This project is an idea about providing the local community with locally-grown, affordable fresh produce. As a result, certification programs in urban agriculture will be produced.
The Hollygrove Pavilion was constructed by students and faculty of Tulane University. The pavilion will stand as an example of environmentally conscious architecture.



A detail in the butterfly like roof that directs rainwater into a cistern for use in the training gardens. Although this was the intention, the collected water is not actually used for what ever reason. Instead water from the main line is used.






On the left hand side this photo you can see a deep green behind the plexi, that is where the cistern is held.

City Park Botanical Gardens

These first five photos are of the Green Pavilion by Tulane City Center in City Park's Botanical Gardens. The pavilion was built as a sustainable exhibition to showcase environmentally sensitive building strategies and technologies. The pavilion has a rainwater catching roof which drips down into a natural water filtration system. This water is then used to hydrate indigenous plants. The structure is also built from salvaged material.




A Japanese garden is also part of the Botanical Gardens.
This is another pavilion very close to the Green Pavilion, although we are not sure who constructed it.