Chapter 6: Shop, Parsons, and Seafood Part 1
Today we got a tour and "intro" to Biloxi and the surrounding coast from David Perkes following the introduction to Construction Methodology class. We started off near the site of one of the oldest buildings on the coast which was nestled in right among the live oaks which are supposedly over 400 years old. Needless to say, it didn't last through Katrina, but it was a great bit of siting. The way the site wrapped the structures into its little enclave is fantastic, such a feeling of safety. Also, the idea that the trees existed and we built around them essentially creating the tree-lined street organically despite the fact that many developments are now planned with that in mind. Fantastic.
There was a little sign that survived the hurricane that said "form line here for next tour". It is amazing what survives.
After rolling around Biloxi, we headed to DeLisle, another one of the towns that is not pronounced in the south as it would be up north (Kiln being the other of note, being pronounced: "kill"...don't ask me). Anyhow, in DeLisle which is about 15 miles west along the coast from Biloxi there is this amazing community center designed by Shop Architects as well as a secondary building housing a laundromat and a public help center for getting rebuilding funds laid out in a dogtrot style designed and (partially) built by students at the Parsons School of Design.
We had lunch in the Shop building which sports an amazing porch fronting a small cafe, a book store, and a couple of other small shops. I split a shrimp po-boy and a bowl of seafood gumbo with Chandler and they were both amazing. I also had my first opportunity to get some sweet tea and took advantage of that with gusto.
For the rest of the afternoon we drove around in Pass Christian (pronouced chris-chee-anne, not christ-ian) and saw the work that Home Again is doing with pre-fab housing. It is strange to see homes which do not belong ten to twelve feet in the air ten to twelve feet in the air. It is especially strange when you see houses that still use materials that are compressive in nature which appear in a way that contradicts their nature (pictured below).
