Bayou Auguste Planning Studio

After two years of recovery work in East Biloxi, GCCDS began to investigate the relationship among topography, land use, and storm damage.  We developed a map that looked at the distribution of buildings destroyed by Katrina, and found that the 10’-0” contour line was key.  Below 10’-0” over 65% of buildings were destroyed or had to be demolished due to Katrina damage; above that line, only 24% were destroyed. 

 

The areas of greatest damage in Biloxi correlate with the rough boundaries of the historic bayous, many of which have been filled in, culverted, and otherwise reconfigured to diminish their natural capacity to absorb runoff, flooding, and other ecological functions.
Responding to similar concerns, efforts like FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program is predicated on the idea that destroyed buildings on high-risk sites should not be rebuilt.  Instead the land should become open space, protected from future development.  However, without a comprehensive planning process, mitigated properties would become a haphazard set of vacant lots and would not create community benefits, either socially or ecologically.
The goal of the Bayou Auguste Urban Design studio was to develop a proposal for creating a carefully considered mosaic of three well-defined land uses:

  • preserved wetlands connected to the Gulf which would be large enough and have enough continuity to be ecologically complete;
  • programmed public space such as walking trails, playgrounds, and meeting places that would create a connected landscape that would be well-used and well-loved by the community; and
  • complete neighborhoods of elevated buildings taking full advantage of the nearby open space.

The studio was a collaborative effort taking place in Biloxi, Mississippi and Cambridge, Massachusetts.  In Biloxi, Christine Gaspar led a group of students from Mississippi State University and University of Minnesota; in Cambridge, Eran Ben-Joseph from the MIT Department of Urban Studies and Planning led a Site Planning Workshop with graduate students addressing the same topic.  The students collaborated on site in Biloxi at the beginning and end of the semester and remotely during the semester.

Students presented their work to community stakeholders throughout, and held a public open house in Biloxi at the end of the semester.

Students:

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Jonathan Cherry, Stephen Crim, Omari Davis, Kristen Hall, Jesse Kanson-Benenav, Allison Lassiter, Nathan Lemphers, Sophie Martin, Molly Mowery, Hattie Silberberg, Kathleen Ziegenfuss.

Mississippi State University. Ashley Allard, Travis Altsman, Jacob Hardin, Emily Parsons, Ashley Rawls.

University of Minnesota.  Anders Matney.
The students developed a continuum of land use ideas to address the different conditions that surround the areas bayous.

These were developed further for specific sites along Bayou Auguste, though they are relevant to other urban bayous throughout the Gulf Coast region. The GCCDS and its partners are currently moving forward with finding further support for this project.

Download the entire .pdf of the final proposal boards by right-clicking the below image: