Will New Orleans Still Look Like New Orleans?

There will be many painful decisions ahead for those who must find a way to rebuild New Orleans, and none may be more taxing than deciding what aspects of the city’s famed architecture can be preserved, and which must get the wrecking ball. “New Orleans is a city where the grand and the debauched are often separated by feet rather than miles, and much of its treasured visual narrative remains intact. But the wind has torn away chunks of facades and the insides of many homes have been corrupted beyond description… a discussion about the virtues of the city’s vernacular architecture – shotgun shacks, Creole cottages – would seem to be a luxury now. Still, local preservationists believe that unless the bulldozers roaming New Orleans are used with care, the city that officials are trying to save will be lost.”