May 9, 2006 An artist's rendering shows how New Orleans' system of levees and canals could be reconstructed and incorporated into new waterfront parklands.
The design, by U.S. landscape architecture firm Hargreaves Associates, is part of "Newer OrleansA Shared Space," a traveling exhibition sponsored by the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., and the Royal Netherlands Embassy.
When Hurricane Katrina roared ashore on August 29, 2005, it triggered breaches in New Orleans' levees that inundated nearly 80 percent of the city. A debate is raging locally and nationwide about howor whetherthe Crescent City should be rebuilt.
The "Newer Orleans" project was initiated by the Netherlands Architecture Institute (NAi), Tulane University, and Artforum magazine. The participantsthree Dutch and three U.S. design firmswere asked to propose architecture for a rebuilt New Orleans that would encourage a renewed sense of community and attachment to the land.