Building for Disaster

When one thinks of designing with ecological principles in mind there is always a sense of bucolic harmony that comes to mind. Nothing challenges this notion more than natural disasters. We all remember the images from Katrina as this force of nature put tremendous pressure on the social, political, and built environment. In the gulf coast ecological design now means, in part, finding ways to mediate the threat posed to human infrastructure by nature.

trays editor Aron Chang has just posted a series of essays and interviews exploring re-building in the post-katrina gulf coast around a case study.

-Rebuilding Biloxi's Ohr-O'Keefe Museum of Art
This is a brief description of the effects of Katrina upon the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum, which serve as an introduction to the articles that follow.
-Katrina and the Ohr-O'Keefe Museum of Art, Q&A with Marjie Gowdy
Marjie Gowdy was the executive director of the Ohr O’Keefe museum at the time of Katrina and in the years immediately following the storm.
-Katrina and the Ohr-O'Keefe Museum of Art, Q&A with Joey Crain
Joey Crain is the architect of record for the Ohr-O'Keefe Museum at Guild Hardy Architects.
-Katrina and the Ohr-O'Keefe Museum of Art, Q&A with Brian Zamora
Brian Zamora is the Project Designer for the Ohr O’Keefe Museum at Gehry Partners.