Glorious Flotsam

Weeks submerged underwater, the urban grain of New Orleans re-emerged from its stasis revealing its new brutalised guise. The near eradication of human life from the flooding , brought with it an illegibility of scrambled urban coding; traces of homes obliterated, cars floating in water, boats nestling in trees, streets with neighborhoods and their identities rubbed out.

The cataclysmic events in New Orleans will be consigned to the annals of history as the greatest natural disaster to occur in the USA; however the missed opportunity to realise a bold new vision for New Orleans through the Federal government’s unconcealed neglect to address the displaced and homeless may outlive the destructive memory of the Hurricane itself.

In August 2008 local Architect Killian Doherty traveled to New Orleans to work with several non-profit organisations.

On the 4th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina presented here is his photographic record. An attempt to illustrate what endures amongst the flotsam of New Orleans, that of which is most glorious; the peoples’ passion for their city and to see it rise again.

Killian Doherty is an Architect. Having worked in Stockholm, Dublin, London and the US, and completing a Masters in Architecture at the Royal Technical College (KTH) in Stockholm , he volunteered with a grassroots organisation on the post-katrina reconstruction of New Orleans.

A visiting studio tutor at the KTH and member of the A+URL network, Killian has exhibited his work in Dublin and Stockholm.