On the image of the Hurricane Katrina and the rebuilding of New Orleans

Abstract

The article examines the neighbourhood of Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans following the Hurricane Katrina in 2005. It focuses on the rebuilding project initiated by Make it Right Foundation (2007-ongoing), founded by actor Brad Pitt. The article looks into media images of the rebuilding of Lower Ninth, and notes that the rebuilt architecture cannot be analysed outside of its relationship with media and images. The rebuilt architecture in Lower Ninth relates to image in multiple levels - it represents image of social justice and resilience, and aims to assign a new (image) value to the suburb. The article analyses the rebuilding within the framework of the relationships between contemporary architecture and media image and argues that these relationships are more complex than perceived by current architectural literature. It sees these relationships as productive in the case of this rebuilding, and aims to expand the space of their analysis.