Each year, Small Center hires young designers from the Tulane School of Architecture to work in an eight-week intensive fellowship. This is an opportunity for students to put their education into practice by advancing community-based projects that respond to needs of New Orleans residents. Small Center engages with the fellows as thought partners on questions and challenges in the field of public interest design. The 2021 Fellowship was made possible through the generous support of Morris Adjmi Architects, William and Jane Sizeler, and EskewDumezRipple.

For five weeks, six fellows worked to complete projects for The Arts Council of New Orleans, Jericho Road Episcopal Housing Initiative, Parisite Skatepark, and Operation Restoration.

2021 Public Interest Design Fellows

• Zachary Braaten – 5th Year, Bachelor of Architecture
• Samantha Lindley- 2nd Year, Master of Architecture
• Kelsie Donovan – 5th Year, Bachelor of Architecture
• Melanie Evans – 2nd Year, Master of Architecture
• Olivia Foster – Bachelor of Arts in Design and Environmental Studies
• Seth Laskin – 4th Year, Bachelor of Architecture

 

Project 1 – Arts Council

Arts Council New Orleans hosts monthly art markets at Palmer Park and City Park. With the goal of increasing access to emerging artists, ACNO conducted outreach to both new and potential market artists. They found that creating a stall to display work is a major barrier for entry to new vendors, as existing prefabricated systems require significant investment. With that in mind, they partnered with the Small Center to create a do-it-yourself prototype for artists to build themselves in an affordable manner.

The prototype for a DIY display focuses on customization and modularity. The display is scalable based on an artist’s needs using a system of interchangeable panels. All materials for the system can be purchased at a home improvement store, for approximately $220 (nine-panel three-bay display). A variety of display setups are supported by the system, which allows for variability within the ten by ten tents used at Arts Council markets.

Fabricating this system requires a drill and access to a saw, though most home improvement stores will cut materials in-store upon request. Both the materials and the fabricated system can be transported in a small sedan with room for artwork, ensuring most have access to the means to build and bring to market. The design may be used in the relaunch of the Artists as Entrepreneurs program.

 

Project 2 – Parisite Skate Park – Transitional Spaces

In 2009, a group of young skateboarders, seeking an alternative to skating on the city’s uneven streets, used found materials to create a makeshift skate park on vacant land near the intersection of New Orleans’ Interstate 610 and Paris Avenue. When the popular park was demolished by the property owners in 2012, the skateboarders decided to move to an adjacent site beneath the interstate overpass and began to rebuild. They formed an organization called Transitional Spaces and reached out to the Albert and Tina Small Center for Collaborative Design at the Tulane University School of Architecture for help navigating the process of working with municipal government and well as a design-build of Parisite Skate Park, a reincarnation of the former skating spaces.

The next stage in the evolution of the Parisite Skate Park encourages the community to express themselves outside of skating, through an event space and culinary education space. The expansion plans to clean- up and reorganize the adjacent space under the overpass and create “Parisite Skateuary“, a usable space for the community. The current site conditions are prime for expansion and the design requires minimal construction. Building off of previous phases of design, the new space will consider stormwater management and site/skate accessibility.

 

Project 3 – Operation Restoration

Operation Restoration’s lab technician training program trains women in lab technician equipment usage, phlebotomy, and lab sample testing. Operation Restoration’s pipeline to medical professions allow their students access to gainful, steady employment and room for advancement. The fellows worked with Operation Restoration on a mobile teaching laboratory for their lab technician training program.

The Operation Restoration Mobile Teaching Lab will allow Operation Restoration to bring the least accessible part of this training program – all of the lab equipment and lab environment – to educational environments that might not have that infrastructure in place, like prisons, community centers and some colleges.

In discussing the needs of the space, the fellows were accommodating a specific list of larger and/or electronic equipment, the infrastructure involved (power and plumbing), as well as the aesthetic needs of the space, which predominantly focused on feeling open, warm and comfortable – Operation Restoration wanted to avoid anything that would be reminiscent of institutional settings – while remaining sanitary for laboratory purposes. These often contrasting needs challenged the fellows to explore unusual materials and methods, as well as researching vehicle renovations and traditional laboratory settings.

 

Project 4 – Jericho Road

Jericho Road Episcopal Housing Initiative of New Orleans is a neighborhood-based non-profit homebuilder that provides families with healthy and energy-efficient affordable housing opportunities. We partner with neighborhood residents, organizations and businesses to create and maintain a stable and thriving community.

The Jericho Project inhabits a lot at 2717 S. Saratoga St. in New Orleans. Once an apple orchard for the community, the site has become overgrown and uninhabited due to external factors like COVID-19.

The Orchard Project proposes a renovation of the site in order to bring life back to the surrounding community and create a space for workers and community members to occupy. By re-introducing the language of lush greenery, and program that suits the current needs of the Jericho Project team members, this project will revitalize the site and provide a quiet, beautiful spot tucked away within the city.

 

Reception and Booklet

The 2021 Public Interest Design Summer Intensive culminated with a June 30th reception, a showcase of designs and constructed works of the Tulane students. Attendees included representatives from each of the organizations, Tulane faculty, Architecture firms, and the extended Small Center network. The work of the Tulane students are available for public viewing at the Small Center and in the 2021 Public Interest Design Booklet.