CS06__fieldoffice's Dry-In House [New Orleans, Louisiana, USA]

Beyond the destruction of New Orleans as rendered by Katrina’s winds and flooding, another crisis arose in the midst of the thousands displaced peoples of the region. Placement in the FEMA trailer parks has proved to be only a mundane and mediocre temporary solution at best. fieldoffice set out design and present an option for this situation, a solution meant to bring displaced families home quicker and with a sense of permanency. Based on previous studies and housing schemes that optimize the use of the truss manufacturing industry, the designers have come to propose the Dry-In House as a housing solution in New Orleans.

Using truss design as a means of allowing for individual customization of every home, the Dry-In House is proposing the opportunity to steer away from a situation primed for mass standardization. A potential home owner would simply dictate their roof form and ceiling form in section that would be extruded with trusses to give the house its form and enclosure. Trusses would arrive on-site by truck and soon be easily erected and assembled as the first generation of a custom home. The home would later evolve and take on more customized features as the homeowner chooses and applies materials from a variety of choices. Again with this proposal, families and neighborhoods are reestablished and “re-placed” on their original properties and the cost-efficient solution is a permanent in nature, unlike the mobile homes or house trailers.

Currently in Venice, the Dry-In House is part of the Searching for Resilient Foundations: The Gulf Coast after Katrina exhibit on display in the Italian Pavilion of the Giardini Biennale through mid November. [Visit Biennale online.]

Sources:

www.field-office.com/
www.field-office.com/dryin/

[Image provided by www.field-office.com]