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M.R.P. 2008
In October 2006, a little more than a year after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, CRP students conducted over 200 resident surveys to develop a participatory comprehensive plan for the 9th Ward of New Orleans, one of the most severely damaged districts in the city. Other students and I were especially touched by the stories that we were told. There was an overwhelming resonance in what people felt they needed to tell us, much of which did not fit within the rubric of a quick and empirical survey. In the beginning of the spring semester, with the help of the Arch Winter Fellowship for the Study of Southern Cities, I conducted follow-up interviews in an attempt to capture some of these stories. Between March 17 and 27, 2007, I interviewed 18 residents with the help of Ben Phelps-Rohrs (B.A. ’07), who assisted me with audio recording and editing. Our aim was to respectfully document residents’ personal narratives of struggle, resilience and rebuilding.
In September 2007, with the support of the Cornell Council for the Arts, the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning, and the Department of City and Regional Planning, I held an exhibition of the photographic portraits and interview recordings, as well as landscape photos of the 9th Ward, at the John Hartell Gallery in the Sibley Dome. This project was later developed into a web-based multimedia slideshow, which can be found on the CRP website. The interviews are also available at the AAP Podcast site.
To see an online version of Brian's exhibit, complete with audio, visit the link below.
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