'Future Ground' Competition Focusing on New Orleans Land Reuse Strategies

Spearheaded by the Van Alen Institute, and supported by the New Orleans Redevelopment Agency, the competition brings new life to some of the 30,000 vacant lots and abandoned structures left over from Hurricane Katrina throughout the city.

1 minute read

August 19, 2014, 7:00 AM PDT

By Maayan Dembo @DJ_Mayjahn


The competition, called Future Ground, is seeking submissions from "landscape designers, architects, planners, public policy wonks, and pretty much anybody in the business of shaping urban environments," according to Aaron Seward from Architects Newspaper Blog. Ten years after Hurricane Katrina's destruction, "Future Ground is looking to create design and policy strategies capable of adapting to changes in density, demand, climate, and landscape in New Orleans over the next half-century in an effort to turn these abandoned landscapes into lasting resources."

Winning teams will receive a small stipend, and work closely, "in a six-month collaborative process with local stakeholders and national leaders. The goal is to bring small, incremental improvements to individual neighborhoods as well as the city as a whole; to develop policy that bolsters beneficial design strategies; and to make these strategies good enough to be sustained into the next generation."

Applications are due September 29, 2014.

Thursday, August 14, 2014 in The Architects Newspaper

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