A Little Bit of Venice in New Orleans

Architecture critic James S. Russell argues that New Orleans should be a city of scenic canals, not of ugly levees. One architecture firm is trying to make that happen.

"Architect Ramiro Diaz has taken me along the Bayou St. John, from its mouth at Lake Pontchartrain on the northern edge of the city, past the huge City Park.

Bridges arch across and trees overhang the serene waterway as it wends through several neighborhoods to its terminus in the Mid-City area.

Diaz and his boss, David Waggonner of the New Orleans firm Waggonner & Ball, would like to thread lushly landscaped waterways like Bayou St. John throughout the city to retain water during the city's frequent deluges."