NOLA Green Project and Old School Building

In response to the monumental failure of our government in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the sheer magnitude of destruction in one of our most historic and important American cities, a group of fine people have created the NOLA Green Project as a means of helping people with limited resources rebuild. A friend of mine, someone who has had an enormous impact on me and remains one of the most important people in my life, has a sister site on Chipin.com (a site that allows community-minded people to help out by creating personalized fund-raising sites for causes of choice) that is doing two things; one of which is actually helping the project raise money, but also allowing people the chance to win gifts that can help others live greener lives. People tend to laugh about living green, but the reality is that going green isn't about earth shoes, hemp and patchouli. It's about creating a space where one can find a cleaner way of co-existing in a world where we are quickly depleting natural resources. It only makes sense.

Back to the topic at hand, the Green Project. People in New Orleans, natives, transplants and those who are there to help them rebuild, are being given an opportunity that should, in a better world, create a new means of using building materials. Because of the scope of the destruction in New Orleans, many buildings were damaged to the point that they were lost to those who used them. All the material that went into making them, however, wasn't lost to the public. The Green Project runs what is essentially a salvage yard that allows people to make use of salvaged and reclaimed materials when rebuilding homes.

It really makes sense, when one stops to think about it. People tend to want to use only the best and newest when building out but at the same time, there is a huge movement toward vintage and period pieces in construction. We are all victims of this dichotomy when we try to build, remodel or just update a home. We want to maintain the original structural integrity of something while still making use of better materials. The funny thing is, most of the time, the original material is the better product.  Before pre-fabs, the sudden shift in the seventies toward concrete and steel and the introduction of space-age material, homes were built to last forever. Builders were the ones who really wanted a homestead, not just a home. I had a friend who was studying to be an architect and she would get so amazingly excited when talking about her personal vision regarding structures. She viewed the old style, pre-Antebellum Southern homes as being the apex of American architecture. The use of natural material, space and design to take full advantage of the local environment to create cool and fluid houses were, in her mind, and I tend to agree, the real genius of the period. And with the advent of mechanical means of ambient temperature control, as well as newer, artificial materials, these lessons were lost.

These days, we would rather use central air and heat and formica instead of having a well thought-out design using readily available material when building a home. Open spaces in modern homes aren't planned to best use the native environment, they are planned for nothing more than impact and entertainment value. Maybe i'm lost in the romance of the period (which is really bullshit, as I don't think that slavery, indentured servitude and the erotic connotations of the "other" during this period is particularly attractive), but I think that we really lost our way when we thought that homes didn't need to be fluid and natural to be nice.

To this end, the NOLA Green Project is giving those who are choosing to rebuild in a city whose romance is not undeserved the chance to really make good on the original promise of the architects of the time. These visionaries wanted the best available materials at the time, which tend to be better than anything available currently because back then, the forests were virgin and solid, the artisans talented and invested, and the builders did a good job not because they were worried about a license, they were concerned about their neighbors. In so doing, they are also allowing us to reclaim that part of our American history that we tend to toss aside. One of the primary problems with being contemporary Americans, we like to look ahead. Except when to do so requires that we look to the past.

In short, the project is a great one, it deserves our respect and our support. Anything that allows people to not create more waste while rebuilding lives is more than worthy in my book. And, although it seems a small thing, it makes a positive impact on those it touches. The NOLA Green Project is like that friend who's always doing the right thing and we are silently proud to know. Even if we don't know how to thank them because doing so seems somehow to lessen the impact of what they do. In this instance, however, thanking them can be a silent, and appreciated effort. All it takes is a small donation. Or a large one, if the resources are there.

Comments

[christal]

thank you.