New Orleans City Hall as a sustainable civic center for 21st century

Thesis (M. Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2008.Page 68 blank.Includes bibliographical references (p. 45-47).The devastating struck of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans in late summer of 2005 was deadly and immense. The storm destroyed over 170 drinking water facilities and 47 wastewater treatments around the city, and resulted the shortage of fresh water supply. The mixing of industry chemical, debris, bacteria and decomposing bodies in flooded water made this water horribly poisoned. Thus, the water supply condition was contaminated and become unfit for drinking. Although the government did not declare the lack of clean water in New Orleans as a major issue during Hurricane Katrina disaster, it is in fact a compounding element in the overall disaster, which should have greater priority. Drinking water needed to be delivered from elsewhere, running water was shut down because the clean water facilities were destroyed. Yet the only water available was contaminated. These issues created dire difficulty for those who provided help and those who needed assistance. Thus, the focus of this thesis lies in the issue of water and architecture in which will be perceived through the eye of sustainable architecture. More importantly, the thesis highlights ways to integrate and employ water in architecture in the most desirable and efficient fashion. The thesis rebuilds a new City Hall for the City of New Orleans as a design project. In this endeavor it aims to combine a sustainable technology blending in with the symbol of government in a building. Thus a new City Hall spirit is encapsulated in the government building to project out beyond the 21st century.by Pholkrit Sangthong.M.Arch