NOLA Architecture 024 - 1960s

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Futurism! Building a fake future in hopes that a real one will show up and mate with it!

Did anything good happen in the 60s?

NOLA Architecture 018 - Drugged Arachnid

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This window reminds me of the pictures you see of spiderwebs after a spider has been given some sort of mood-altering substance. I also love the metal attic vents you see on the other building.

NOLA Architecture 013 - Blue House

Please click on the image for a larger, more-detailed version.Again, New Orleanians are not afraid of bold colors. This is a shotgun house. This means there are no hallways, just a series of rooms with all of the doors in a row. Theoretically, you could open all of the doors and shoot a shotgun through without hitting anything.
Or at least that's one definition.

This could be a cross-over to the Shutter-Swap photos because it shows a pile of house guts next to it. The condition of the homes ranged in rows- maybe concentric circles. First you had houses with no damage, maybe a roof was damaged. Then you had houses with missing roofs and broken windows. Next were houses that look fine, but everything inside of them was destroyed by the flood, so everything had to be thrown out, right down to the sheet rock. Finally at the center, or last row of destruction, you had stuff that just needed to be bulldozed.
Very Dante.

NOLA Architecture 011 - Catwalk

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The catwalk is one of my favorite architectural elements that is very common in New Orleans. To me, it's up there with having multiple tree houses connected with rope bridges- how cool is that? This is behind Mojo coffee house on Magazine and Race St. It's across the street from St. Vincent Guest House, where we used to stay when visiting. But you have to walk through this courtyard to use their bathroom, which is in an old tool room or something. It has a louvered door. Wait! I have a picture...

Right. So, I love catwalks. Here are some more views:
Many air conditioning condensers are placed on roofs or as high as possible to prevent them from being stolen for copper scrap.

Oh, and check out the rounded gutters up top. Very nice.

NOLA Architecture 010 - Nevermore

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Maryland Carpetbaggers!

NOLA Architecture 009 - Twin Red Victorians

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I've watched these buildings decay for a lot of years.
I fear they are just going to be wiped away.

NOLA Architecture 008 - Maple St. Windows

Please click on the image for a larger, more-detailed version.Not every domicile in New Orleans is an ancient, often decrepit Victorian. Some clever people are able to build new homes (or even renovate old ones) that are unique and beautiful and don't insult the lovely venerable homes next to which they sit. These two homes are on Burthe St. between Fern & Short St. It is walking distance from Tulane & one block away from the Maple St. shopping / bar & restaurant district.

NOLA Architecture 007 - World Trade Center

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Bet you didn't know New Orleans has a World Trade Center.
They do and it has a website.

The Plimsoll Club is the restaurant at the top, similar to Windows on the World.
I don't know if the Plimsoll Club rotates or not.

The WTC sits on the Mississippi at the end (or beginning if you prefer) of Canal Street, which separates the French Quarter from the Central Business District.

NOLA Architecture 006 - Marengo / Prytania Victorian

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I have dozens of "favorite houses" in New Orleans, but this lovely Victorian is up in the top 3 or 5. It's at Prytania and Marengo. Our house is on Marengo, so I get to drive by it a lot. The windows in the rounded corner area (I have no architectural vocabulary whatsoever) have curved glass. Some of these windows have the dimples and waviness that let you know they are at least 100 years old and are probably handmade. That's 4 major hurricanes they've survived. The sad story here is that this house has been chopped up inside and is now 4-7 apartments. Hell, It's probably been made into condos by now. It's very trendy in New Orleans to sell sets of apartments as condos. It breaks my heart.
Google Street View

One of the problems of these cheap Point & Shoot digital cameras is that you have no control over light exposure and the sky is always blasting white unless you take them at 6 a.m. It drives me crazy.

NOLA Architecture 005 - Dragonfly Fence

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Often, I will have to make a call as to which album I should place a photo. Of course all architecture is art. My focus here is the Fence, which I will lump in with architecture. I should do the same with landscaping. I first saw this while riding my bike around. It took me months to find it again to take a picture. And actually, I couldn't find it again now if I tried.

Really, what yard isn't made stunning by any kind of Magnolia.

NOLA Architecture 004 - One Wall and Roof

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Dude has one wall and a roof. HELL YES we're going to restore instead of rebuild!

My cynical side guesses that this was done because it allowed for a more obtainable loan as opposed to a new construction loan.

NOLA Architecture 003 - Fallen Cake

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Accurately described by my bride as a "fallen cake", this is likely not a candidate for rehab. One must understand that New Orleans looked like this BEFORE Katrina and Rita. The city has been neglected for 35 years. And it has been rebounding for 35 years.

NOLA Architecture 002 - Painted Lady

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New Orleans will give the Painted Ladies of the Northwest a run for their money any day. These look more like houses in Haiti, though. For the record this house is about 1100 square feet and likely going for $350,000. And what you see is the extent of the yard.

NOLA Architecture 001- Fema Trailer

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This is Uptown New Orleans in a nutshell. A house doing O.K. next to a house doing great next to a house with a FEMA trailer. Some were prepared while others weren't.