Jamie Morton from Habitat for Humanity of the Mississippi Gulf Coast has taken some wonderful photos of The Trace, a 28-unit development built by Habitat in partnership with the GCCDS. The photographs show off the coastal architecture and excellent landscaping that help make this an extraordinary neighborhood. (See the full set on Flickr.)
Back in April, I finally wrapped up the process of getting Patty’s house LEED-certified. Today, the LEED certificate arrived in the mail. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a national third-party certification system for energy efficient, healthy, green homes. Aside from a large LEED-certified development at nearby Keesler Air Force Base, this is the first LEED-certified house in Mississippi.
Several months ago, I helped the Hope CDA redesign their monthly newsletter, which goes out to clients and East Biloxi residents.
The Salvation Army Volunteer Village has been one of the fixtures of the volunteer hurricane relief effort here in Biloxi since shortly after Hurricane Katrina. Over the past year, they have been gradually closing down and refocusing their operations as the numbers of volunteers have fallen off. Yesterday, after nearly four years, they served their last lunch for volunteers. For those of us who have been here during the hurricane recovery process, it feels like the end of an era.
One of my ongoing projects, Patty’s house, is the GCCDS’s entry in the AIA Mississippi 2009 Design Awards. Sponsored by the Mississippi chapter of the American Institute of Architects, The AIA Mississippi Design Awards Program seeks to encourage excellence and elevate the quality of architecture by recognizing and honoring works of distinction by its members and bring to public attention outstanding examples of architecture and design. Although I came into the project after the initial design process, I’ve worked a lot on Patty’s house and on its LEED certification, and it’s very satisfying to document the project and submit it …
Last week’s Moss Point exhibit was a great success. It was well-attended by city officials and community leaders, designers, and interested citizens of Moss Point and neighboring communities. I took lots of photos, which you can see on Flickr (65 photos). WLOX News did a piece on the exhibit as well. Here’s a quick look at the exhibit and the events of the evening: See the rest of my photos on Flickr (65 photos).
This morning, Hope Force held a dedication for Carmen’s house, which I have been working on over the past year. Thanks to their hard work and the work of Christian Aid Ministries, the house has turned out very well. Carmen, her husband Clarence, and their children are very happy! The house has a ramp that zig-zags up to a wide front porch, a spacious living room with an adjacent kitchen, and a hallway that leads to the three bedrooms and two bathrooms. See more photos from the dedication on Flickr [19 photos].
As part of the upcoming Moss Point exhibit, I’ve been working on five renderings highlighting various aspects of the plan for downtown Moss Point, Mississippi. It took about 50-60 hours to get them ready; I used color pencils combined computer renderings produced by Seth. There’s a lot of energy going into this exhibit, so we hope it will be well attended! See the Sun Herald article for more information. Without further ado, here are some of the images: A section-perspective cut through Moss Point’s downtown, through the waterfront and the new City Hall: A view of the proposed civic and …
This is Your Downtown: The Future of Downtown Moss Point, Mississippi An exhibition from May 7th to June 1st, 2009 4836 Main Street, Moss Point, MS The vision for downtown is clear: a place where people can enjoy the beauty of the Escatawpa River, where locals and visitors can live, shop, and dine, and where modern facilities host the center of civic life and public services. The people of Moss Point, its leaders, and teams of architects, planners, and engineers have been working to make that vision a reality by improving waterfront parks, creating public buildings to make the city …
While in Dallas for the Structures for Inclusion conference, we made a field trip to the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, designed by Louis Kahn; one of the greatest buildings by one of the greatest architects of all time. The art was nice, but the building is the real star. Visit my Flickr page for more photos! It’s easy to appreciate what makes the Kimbell great: its simplicity. A simple form (the barrel vault) is repeated throughout the building. All of the different spaces (galleries, patio, foyer, portico) are created through variations on this form. A restrained material palette …