Post-Katrina, the need to rebuild has provided the catalyst for architects and planners both to restore and re-envision New Orleans’s urban landscape. Underpinning their efforts is the research and support provided by a growing and increasingly interconnected network of social agencies and philanthropic organizations. Is there visible progress? What initiatives have been successful? Why have some design schemes failed? What short-term solutions hold promise? What is the long-term picture for the preservation, restoration, and rebuilding of New Orleans?

James S. Russell, who has written extensively about New Orleans as architecture critic for Bloomberg, will provide an overview of current work in New Orleans. Following will be presentations by two design firms: Matthew Berman and Andrew Kotchen, principals of the New York City firm Workshop APD, will discuss the building process of their winning entry in the first phase of the Global Green competition; and Allen Eskew of the New Orleans firm Eskew + Dumez + Ripple, will discuss some of his firm’s current projects, which include a new high school, VA hospital, and the BioInnovation Center. Carey Shea, who spearheaded the Rockefeller Foundation’s assistance to planning efforts in New Orleans and who is now senior program director of the Community Revitalization Program at the Greater New Orleans Foundation, will discuss current efforts, particularly the development of the Unified New Orleans Plan and Community Revitalization Fund.

This program is presented as part of the League's 2007 - 08 thematic series Reimagining Risk.

Admission is free for League members, 10 Dollars for non-members.