design, build, learn. repeat.

Biloxi’s draft Comprehensive Plan

This week, the City of Biloxi held a series of public meetings to solicit community input into the draft of the city’s new Comprehensive Plan (see an online version of the plan here). The plan, produced by Wallace Roberts & Todd, is nicely put together; but at 232 pages, it’s more than casual reading.  The draft plan: Focuses on the next 20-25 years. Will be revised to address public comments and a final Comprehensive Plan will be adopted by City Council. Will be implemented through the Land Development Ordinance, zoning adjustments, and city projects (roads, sidewalks, key buildings). So what …

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Labor Day pictures

Seth sent me some cool pictures from last Labor Day weekend’s work in New Orleans. As I described before, Seth and Emilie’s house is… A historic “camelback” shotgun house on Louisiana Avenue, it’s surprisingly spacious and will be divided into two units; the primary apartment in the front and a rental unit in the two-story portion in the rear. A complete renovation is a huge undertaking for two people, but it will be an amazing house once it is finished. Seth and I spent the afternoon pulling up floorboards and adding new floor joists in the upstairs bedroom to create …

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Labor Day weekend

As it should be, Labor Day weekend was full of sun and adventure (and even a little bit of labor). As part of our ongoing effort to meet new ultimate players around the coast, Doug, Jesse, Jon, the other Doug and I went to New Orleans on Sunday to play some pick-up ultimate frisbee. Meeting up with a local group, we played for several good hours on the lawn in front of Audubon Zoo. One of my goals is to spend more time in New Orleans, and a frisbee game every few weeks is a great reason to go over. …

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9/11 National Day of Service

This Friday, September 11 will be the first 9/11 National Day of Service. The Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, which increased the size of the AmeriCorps program, also established the National Day of Service as a way to remember the victims of 9/11 and encourage Americans to give back to their communities. Many organizations, even before the Serve America Act was passed, have taken up the call for service. Here in Biloxi, Hands On Gulf Coast will be coordinating activites for K-5 students at North Bay Elementary. Kids will be doing chalk murals, crafts, essays, and talking with local …

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A House for John

John’s house is finally under way. Saturday, I helped notch the piles and build the rim joists along with a group of students from Keesler. Since then, Jeremy, Molly, Doug, and Colleen have been making progress on the floor.

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Perception and Color

I came across a very interesting article by IBM researchers Bernice Rogowitz and Lloyd Treinish. It’s called “Why Should Engineers and Scientists Be Worried About Color?“, and it deals with how human perceptions of color can affect the representation of information. While graphic designers may or may not be familiar with this, it was certainly new to me.

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A House for Lorena

The rebuilding efforts of many Gulf Coast non-profits have been proceeding slowly lately as some funding sources have dwindled and others, such as funding from the Mississippi Development Authority, have been slow to materialize. Yet progress is still being made. One of my houses, in Long Beach, is being funded by its owner and is moving forward thanks to the efforts of International Relief and Development and Training U, a construction training program. The house is for a lady named Lorena and features two bedrooms and two bathrooms. The compact design also includes a screened porch (see below). The plan …

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Rural Studio

Several months back, in early May, I visited the Rural Studio for their end-of-term closing ceremonies and pig roast. A program of Auburn University’s College of Architecture, Design and Construction, the Rural Studio is embedded in rural Hale County, Alabama. Throughout Hale County, the Rural Studio puts architecture students to work designing and building creative, low-cost, high-quality solutions to the needs of rural communities. Auburn/Rural Studio alumni Jessie and Britton led us on an amazing three-day tour of this special place.

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A Low Impact Woodland Home

Head over and check out A Low Impact Woodland Home — a beautifully crafted, organic, environmentally friendly house in Wales. Its approach to green building is about as far from LEED as you can get. Imagine how it would be to live in a house you had designed and built yourself, in four months, for only $5,000? In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to …

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Snakebit

Via BUILDblog: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgNd2_X2-ko] Website: www.snakebitfilm.com

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