I will be interviewing Reed Kroloff, Tulane's dean of architecture, tomorrow for a feature to be published here on Archinect shortly after. I want to open up this discussion to allow our readers to post questions for Dean Kroloff.

For those of you unaware of Tulane - it is based in New Orleans and our interview will address the current situation of New Orleans, Tulane University, and the effects of Hurricane Katrina.

paul - here are some questions i've been mulling over for the past week or so. hope you can find them helpful.

1) the deconstruction and subsequent reconstuction of new orleans will most likely cause a marked paradigm shift in how this city functions. have you had a chance to evaulate how this shift will influence the studio environment both short and long-term?

2) i know its still early, but have the faculty expressed how they would like to incorporate this event into the curriculum?

3) studio breeds a special kind of comaraderie. to step back from tulane for a moment, what steps can schools of architecture take to maintain a sense of community when a powerful event such as hurricane katrina happen? is it even possible to maintain any semblance of academic and social identity when students are dispersed throughout the country?

I wonder what roll the faculty and students of the S.O.A. might play in reconstruction, and is the SOA making it a priority set such an agenda, to get involved, or is it just trying to get back to 100% itself?

along 'The Public's' line of Tulane's role in nola reconstruction, but specifically in 2 different processes that can be incorporated into the curriculum and if there are plans for that or not...

1. establish 'design build' studios and/or workshops along the lines of mockbee or sci-arc's and other schools community outreach projects. this would be a great opportunity to get creative, maybe even 'experimental', design into built form for the community in the form of small scale buildable projects.

2. opportunity to get political on a city planning level. with so many overlaps of official local, state, and federal bodies working to 'rebuild' new orleans, there is a rare opportunity to track this and expand on it in say a design studio. and more importantly to become one of the political bodies that can help navigate between the different organizations in real life planning problems and its effects on architecture, economics, government, etc.

(i guess that's not really a question)

a suggestion for mr. kroloff, from a tulane alum, though i'm sure he's heard many suggestions already:

it might be interesting, and a way to engage all of those architecture folks who want to help from afar, if tulane organized some cooperative studios where links with studios in other schools were forged. each tulane studio might work with a studio at sciarc, gsaap, ball state, catholic, etc. in developing projects dealing with katrina reconstruction. scales would vary from single family infill prototypes to urban design. also an opportunity to hook up with the various historic preservation programs across the country.

a way to get students from across the country involved in the issues that will be faced in n.o. and a way to get different schools with their different cultures and resources working together.

his comments on npr were very good, by the way. for those who haven't heard it, you can find it on the npr site. i think it was all things considered.

would love to hear him expand on his idea of respecting the 'grain' of the city in its reconstruction.

Steven Ward the NPR section was awesome. I liked to hear Walter Hood, he is one of the under-appreciated masters fo the design field.

The only question I have is what is Tulane doing to be part of the re-building conversation?

If they dont get in early and strongly, this city will be disneyfied faster than you can say new urbanism.
New Orleans is the intellectual and creative hub of the South, it should reflect it even in its re-construction.

They need a political ally, tell them to align with the mayor, or the governor. Someone that has been hurt politically and wants to improve their image. They will want to hear opinions.

Tulane can make all the studios and publications they want, but unless they have a cheerleader with power, the research will mean nothing.

ya, the NPR bit on preserving the fine grain was very interesting.

too late to post a question, but I hope the above issues (specifically how to get the University directly involved in the reconstruction) are addressed...
AP