Dizzy Machinery

While nerding out on metal fabrication*, it struck me that if Richard Serra's awesome, sobering metal sculptures were twisted just a bit, they would become inclined planes that one could walk on, like this great playground by Mitsuru Senda:

Stallings Gentilly Park + Pool... Istanbul's Gezi Park.

As the New Orleans heat index reaches 110 degrees, it seemed wise to pick back up the old summer tradition of swimming at the Stallings Gentilly Pool , a few blocks away from the posi-vibes breakfasts at Espe's Kitchen at Broad and Aubry.  The park is named after Olive Stallings, "mother of playgrounds in New Orleans."

bleached out at City Park

 
There used to be a pool at City Park as well, but it was closed under segregationist mayor Victor H Schiro in the 1960's to avoid integration (along with public pools at Audubon Park and Ponchartrain Beach).  This caused several generations of New Orleanians to not know how to swim - compounded by pollution in Lake Ponchartrain, which was not considered passable for swimming until 2006.

transport to the next dimension

Project for Public Spaces sees that primary transportation in this country is with individual automobiles.  In working to create better spaces for people to interact and be outside, they concern themselves with providing means for people to get around in ways that are low-impact, healthy, and promote human-to-human direct connections.

So, lets think about transportation: Who makes the policies and projects which play a huge role in our transportation choices? How does their own world of transportation look?  Well, I would like to think that the folks making decisions are at the pinnacle of knowledge-action on their respective topics.  So, what does it mean that the Louisiana DOT is located so that pedestrian approach is all but futile?

"No walking or biking along interstate", 6th most inaccessible-without-car-DOT in the nation

FTB19: continuing research 4.4.13

Freedom to Build will be meeting Thursday, April 4 at 5pm at the Rosa Keller Library on S Broad St.  You know, the library with a front half thats old n grand, and a back half thats poppin' new and college-architecture-grad-y, with a coffeeshop separating the two.  

New construction (left) houses the library, with added technology focus: more computers and wide selection of DVDs, reflected in that wing's design.  The old building's raising + renovation (right) has space for studying and meeting, open longer hours than the library.  The two are connected by a coffeeshop.  There's a societal metaphor, a sign of the times,  somewhere in there as well.

When a cluster of 5 libraries were planned to be rebuilt, new additions based on public-input meetings included wifi-zones, children's areas, after-hours gathering spaces, and "enterprise space."  I believe that the Green Dot Cafe at Rosa Keller is the only private enterprise that ended up being placed in a library, and I've heard rumors that it isn't open anymore (past 2 times I was there it was closed, no website anymore).  While its ominous to see a glorious public space such as a library have such visible private-capital involvement, the presence of a coffeeshop helped make the library more functional for longer work-sessions, and the various groups meeting in the building seemed to appreciate its existence.  A nice amenity... will a donation-based coffee-maker work as well?   

Is the name of this cafe referencing the "Green Dot Plan" (from Nagin's Bring New Orleans Back Commission) that infuriated so many folks thinking their homes were becoming parks and swampland? from nola.com article

Let's work to finish up our present research, figure out exactly what to do with it, and move to other green-dotted pastures. See you there! Bring pencils/pens and paper, and a computer if you have it... the library closes at 7 and has public computers available until then.

electrical wiring!

Wiring electrical outlets and switches is relatively simple, and its basic ideas and methods can assist in much more regular non-construction tasks like fixing broken light fixtures and other electrical appliances around the house.  Talking to someone who knows how to do wiring for a house + can advise on layouts that are safe, practical, + up-to-code is neccesary, but here are some links to basic information for developing a solid jumping-off point:

          *Inspectapedia is a very informative website, lots of info on wiring 
          *Family Handyman has a step-by-step breakdown of how to wire a room yourself
          *wiring a junction box: when an existing wiring line ends, connect a junction box if you'd like to extend the run.  Whenever connections are made between wiring lines, it needs to be contained in a casing (metal + plastic ones exist).  When you wire an receptacle, this acts as a junction box, where you can continue your wiring run from the outlet.
          *GFCI (Ground-Fault Current Interrupter, a safety shutoff mechanism) outlet goes near water (bathrooms, kitchens, outside).  These are the ones with the little "test" + "reset" buttons in the middle.  Regular outlets go in bedrooms, hallways, etc.  Refrigerators should be on their own separate regular outlet, even though they are in the kitchen.   For a general overview of wiring layout, here is a basic room-by-room electrical codes.

If you want to shred your mind with a cheesegrater of jargon, you can reference the actual codebooks.  It feels like another language and takes much time to know whats happening, but learning to reference these documents can be very helpful:
          *the codes for Louisiana are listed here. Some of the links are down or you have to pay, but the electrical code is National Electric Code 2008 Edition (NEC 2008) and can be found here.
          * The City of New Orleans Safety+Permits has made amendments to NEC/International Building Code.  The electrical ish is in Chapter 27. Most pertains to licensing (no work may be done "inside or outside of any building or premises without receiving a permit from the Director."... all work must be done by a licensed electrician, etc), but more detailed wiring info comes around p.107

FTB18: Consolidation of Avenues 2.28.13

pick a line, any line (Badlands)

 Hear ye, Hear YE:

In light of "public participation" being mumbojumbo'd by Our Bureaucracy's clutter'd drawers of ulterior motives, linguistic shade, and predetermined detriment, Freedom to Build will reconvene on Thursday, February the 28th, 3rd eve after the Full Snow Moon has risen before our collective eye.  5 oclock, Sycamore House (3111 Palmyra at Lopez)

Last time we met up (Jan 31) we got to talking about the various ways that space/land/property/whathaveyou is distributed by city agencies and can sometimes be acquired by regular folks without crazy money or social/political ties.  There are many different avenues to hold the title for property (as well as ways to use without full legal title...), and with the end goal of compiling into some sort of "Legal Jargon Demystified: Layperson's Guide to Avenues Towards Property Use + Ownership" in hopes that the info could hopefully be helpful to someone, say, maybe applied towards creating a stable home space by people at the mercies of New Orleans' disproportionate rental rates, large-scale redevelopment schemes, rising property values, and strangled public spaces.

Topics to be discussed (pick one and research it, come to class with something to add!):

• compiling a list + basic description of different avenues towards property acquisition
• sheriff's sales, tax sales + what the "X%" lien ownership means
• NORA (New Orleans Redevelopment Authority) property disposition programs, land banking (as passed on from Road Home), and how they are tied
• "donation of blighted property to nonprofits" city program
• the process of going through Safety + Permits, inspections, and what it takes to obtain a Certificate of Occupancy
• why is it that so many blighted + abandoned properties are lost within inheritances?
• acquisitive prescription/corporeal possession (LA version of common law's "adverse possession"/squatter's rights)
• what are the implications of NOPD quality of life officers? The City Planning Commission's Neighborhood Participation Plan considers Land Use to be a Quality of Life issue. 

Depending on how conversation goes, it may be worth it to bring a computer if you have access to one... we may walk somewhere with internet to commit some further investigation.

Energy planning, Entergy panning

This Wednesday, Feb 20 at UNO's Lindy Boggs Conference Center, 2-4:30pm, is a public meeting about Entergy's Integrated Resource Plan. As NO's sole energy provider, Entergy's IRP describes how New Orleans' energy needs will be handled in the next 20 years, such as energy efficiency, renewable resources, and affordability.  More on the IRP and the 2-week followup period where online questions will be logged as official City Council records ("more details to come soon"), at the Alliance for Affordable Energy blog.

Entergy New Orleans has a legal monopoly: the corporation has an agreement with the City that it is the only entity with rights to provide electricity + gas to New Orleans residents, as long as its profits are regulated by the NO City Council.  Many utility providers have legal monopolies, partially because of the impracticality of 10 different companies' high-voltage lines + transformers running down your street. Entergy NO is 100% owned by Entergy Corporation, NO's only Fortune 500 company.

Entergy just applied for a rate increase, before their Integrated Resource Plan gets decided on by City Council. Lots of folks are heated, as usual.

Entergy workers picketing in Mass

CLEAN-WASHING

NFL Clean Zone, New Orleans LA.  Apparently this has happened in previous Super Bowl Cities, and ours is near-exact as Indianapolis's 2012 Clean Zone, civil liberties arguments and all.  In bringing in a large-scale event, the city is in effect trying to limit the scale of "undesirable" byproduct activities such as advertising, hanging in public places.

 Any temporary signage approved by the City of New Orleans, shall be required to consist of at least 60% Super Bowl / NFL Branding look and feel and no more than 40% third party commercial identification.

  At the same time, Mardi Gras Krewes are relocated at their own expense, businesses cut off by inane redevelopment, volunteers wasted on holding rich out-of-towner's hands, The city is spending "only" $13 million to put this on (Dallas spent $38 million in 2011.. not sure of the expenses breakdown of that $13mil, and what is not included), and expecting $185 million in returns for the efforts (Dallas made just over $200 mil.  This institution is INSANE).  The money will be going mostly to tourism-based endeavors + merch sales. Dont get me started on tourism industry's parasitic existence, keeping local workers in a servant class... my feebly-posi mind can only handle one negative rant at a time.

The Mississippi, most polluted river in the US, is part of the Clean Zone.  What is actually "clean"?  Advertising, elites wasting $, and brovibes make me feel like I've bathed in shitpuke.

 Watch out! How will the Clean Zone evolve between now and 2018?  NO has also officially put in a bid for the 2018 Super Bowl, this time to coincide with the 300th anniversary of the city.  WOW.  Im already sick of talking about football + researching it, what the heck is going on? 


HERES SOME LINKS
      * New Orleans Code Enforcement Clean Zone official pdf
      * Heres a paper from Marquette Law Review...  "Unconstitutional Hosting of the Super Bowl: Anti-Ambush Marketing Clean Zones' Violation of the First Amendment"
      *New Orleans Super Bowl Committee says "this is what we are doing to help the city"... volunteers escorting folks from the airport, volunteers putting in astroturf, CBD streetcar line (who cares), French Quarter road improvements (good thing all the other roads are smooth like all the tourist asses getting wiped), etc.  At least Hunter's Field is getting new lights, that spot is killer.
      *result of ACLU lawsuit
      *Michael Patrick Welch on Why the Super Bowl Screws New Orleans , part 2
      *evolution of NFL Clean Zone regulations
      *and a breath of fresh air reality, from"Occupy Group Fights New Orleans Super Bowl Clean Zone"

“No matter what the ordinance,” said Karen Dalton-Beninato, journalist and co-founder of the New Orleans Musicians Relief Fund, “odds are locals will still be selling bottled water out of a cooler and working the ‘I know where you got them shoes’ grift somewhere within the Clean Zone.”

FTB17: Reactionary Attitude 1.31.13

The next FTB hang sesh will be THURSDAY JAN 31 at 6:00 PM at Sycamore House (3111 Palmyra St).  After much discussion last time we covered issues and ideas we want to act on, here’s a proposal open to interpretation: 

Have a location that interests you?  Chill out in a spot for a while and observe what happens, collect what your senses find.  Sketch out what happens.  What strikes you?  Why? Why does it happen? How can you respond to it? Tell a story + scheme.

OR

Got an issue that’s been on your mind?  Why does it affect you? Give some thought to how it could be addressed, how that might happen, and where.

An example taken from last week (feel free to use):
Neighborhoods’ edges are often defined by a strong border, such as spaces used as infrastructure for people inhabiting the area: surface roads, highways, canals, parks, railroads, bodies of water. You could sit under I-10 or at either side of a canal for while... What connections and disconnections do these borders create?  How did they come about? Etc. 

Draw us a picture*, make a diagram, lay some twigs on the ground, whatever… something visual helps folks understand where you’re coming from.  In thinking about a response, don’t get too bogged down with reality or unknowns... we can boil down ideas to functionality when we look at them closer n refine them.

On Thursday we can talk about what we worked on, combine thoughts, and move ahead towards CREATION. ….. with byproduct of a lil research and documentation.  Recording info you find can be one of the first steps of “the design process”, or more appropriately “making something that works"  OR  "telling a story.**" Bring a pen/pencil/paper/snack if u got it.

a diagram of rain dripping onto a broken gutter bracket, creating a loop of ascending piches amplified by the house's corner.  Seriously thought there was some freaky noisehead creature up in the wall.

 ------------------
 *There’s gotta be a million ways to represent a space or what happens in it or what happened in it or what can happen in it.  Drawing is only one way of representation, but an straightforward one.  Drawing a space like you’re looking at it from above is called a plan (see thesketch from the Lopez Bridge path).  Drawing something straight-on without perspective is called an elevation.  Cutting a line through something (often seen from the side, like the wall to the left in the picture above) is called drawing in section.  Drawing something like it looks in real life, with your eyes in a specific spot so lines trail into the distance is called Perspective.  Mathematically doing this (an angled view that doesn’t get smaller in the distance) is called an axonometric drawing.  Painting with your hand is called finger-painting.

**putting thoughts together is putting together different strands of a story that not only describes a specific space or issue, but ties it in to real life and real people. When a space is controlled in large amounts by institutions held at a distance from the folks who use that space, it becomes efficient to describe that space with broad statistics + oversimplified yes+no-type categorizations.  Tangled bureaucracies + private financial interests further dillute direct intervention by those most affected, as issues are divided between various parties.  Put a bike rack next to your oil refinery, you can still get “green” tax credits.  A great resource for a town's history are Sanborn insurance maps.  Have categorical histories of the world pushed actual connected-thought stories to "alt-history" status, simply functioning as supplementary info for fulfilling "public input" mandates? Would a map created of IP address locations be as informative as sitting next to someone - in 2045?  Whooaaa

Public Input Session, Tues 1.22.13: HANO, people with criminal convictions, and subsidized housing

As is, people convicted of felonies are not allowed subsidized housing.  Should the New Orleans' government's housing sector assist in creating a stable living space for those who have had legal troubles, so often brought about by lack of a stable living situation in the first place?  Let's all go shout and be shouted at!! Be the kooks you want to see in the world.

---------------------------------------

"The Housing Authority of New Orleans invites HANO residents and members of the public to attend a public hearing to review and comment on HANO’s Draft Criminal Background Policy. 

THE HEARING WILL BE HELD ON

TUESDAY, JANUARY 22, 2013 6:00 P.M.

HELEN W. LANG MEMORIAL BOARD ROOM

4100 TOURO STREET (Please Use Entrance on Senate Street Side)

NEW ORLEANS, LA 70122

HANO’s Draft Criminal Background Policy is posted on the Authority’s website at www.hano.org and is

available for comment until February 5, 2013."

The draft basically says that HANO recognizes that their "no criminals housed" policy perpetuated unemployment and segregation, and they will no subsidize housing for any qualified individual who doesn't have a history of domestic abuse or child abuse, and isn't viewed as a current threat.

Storytime: Liability is the Mind-Killer.

"look at that pelican fly!" - Scarface

SO... the other day I went on a bike ride to meet a few friends up in City Park for a picnic.  The park is one of my favorite urban spots I've ever visited, mostly because it unintentionally accomplishes what so many parks unsuccessfully strive to do:  it makes one feel like they have truly exited the city, even though it actually still surrounds them.  The lakeside portion of City Park is an overgrown former golf course, where folks walk their dogs, fish, picnic, read, and generally have a great posi time.



This idyllic expectation was in full effect last week (Fri Jan 4 I believe) as we meet up at an oak grove where a small treehouse had been placed.  "Some folks just came by in their truck and hauled away that old couch" laughed my friends, as they recounted a goofy story of citizen participation in cleaning up the park (the couch had been seen at various spots in the park, run over by lawnmowers, beaten to hell, and was last seen dilapidated in the oak grove).  A few yards away, several kids climbed around the treehouse with their granddad.  "I used to play golf here back when it was a course, but this may be the most fun I've seen people having," he chuckled, admiring his future generations.  As the kids climbed around, a big white truck pulled up with a smiling man and his dog.  Smiling Man hopped out of his truck and in near-silence threw a rope over a tree branch, fashioning a swing which was immediately put to use by the kids + their grandpa, but not before he took a few moments to test it out.  Nothing is better than a large man on a little swing on a sunny day. At this point I was almost laughing out loud at how goofily serene of a moment we had stumbled upon, days after the recurring conversation of "gunshot or fireworks?" had been driving me mad.

 
On his way out I asked the Smiling Man if he worked for the park, and found out that he was simply a nice guy taking his dog for a walk, had some extra rope, and thought that kids would enjoy a swing in the area.  He was correct. Duh.

Next time I saw him, he was stopped by a NOPD cruiser, lights ablaze.  A sinking feeling approached faster than the cops could stumble through the knee-high grasses.  When the two officers reached the grove of trees, the children had walked away (its funny how kids sometimes sense bad vibes approaching, like animals running inland in the moments before a tsunami) just in time to miss Officer A pull out his knife and cut down the swing without hesitation.

"it led a short life but brought smiles to all who rode it, while pointing to larger-scale inadequacies brought about by the insurance racket. RIP"

He didn't stop here though, as he huffily grilled my friend and I about "why that guy put up a swing" and how "people can't just do stuff like that."  "This treehouse is gonna have to go, NOW" he growled, as his good-cop partner took pictures, climbed around, and beamed that it was actually pretty damn nice.  We tried to maintain non-emotionally-blinded inquiry, finding out that (even though the overgrown, dog-eating-gator inhabited, crumbling-building-dotted, hole-spattered, fire-ant laden plot of land was constantly enjoyed by all ages in a safe manner) someone "could fall off of the swing and die", leading to liability issues.

Well are you gonna stop building bridges too, if you have a problem with people sleeping under them?  People can fall off of them as well, you know. And then there's the issue of "well, it's City Park's land", which touches on issues of increasingly privatized resources in New Orleans as well as the rest of the world and the fallowing of urban space as problem to be solved by use dictated by needs + the users' self-determination.  But then I'm reminded by this incident that City Park isn't so much concerned with the well-being of their "users," but its continued existance as a corporate entity:  proposed skate parks are fee-based, historic live oaks are planned to be destroyed for soccer fields, and the land enjoyed by a diverse many (humans + wildlife!) is to be converted to a bleak resource-draining playground for a select few.

Here's City Park's Master Plan for 2018.  Check it out.  It's not all gross.  But what IS gross is that people so often grow up being instilled with the idea that they are not allowed to make this world better by direct means, and when they come across people pushing agendas for happiness and self-improvement, they see those same do-gooders cut down like a rope swing before any actual reflection is given to the situation, simply because it is an outlier to the expected modes of creation (going thru the regulated avenues that so often deflate any positive momentum) and therefore, by virtue of being "other" and irregular, something to be feared.  Neoliberal regulatory attitudes towards existence and creation - the same attitudes pushed by the affluent that have, for example, stifled small businesses because "signs on telephone poles are trashy and bring down property values" - provide:

-a labyrinth of suffocation for those who want to make change through officially recognized avenues,
-persecution and branding as "bandit" for those who cannot afford (via time, $$, or other resources) to go through officially sanctioned channels or choose not to out of general practicality
-more excuses to tighten regulatory statutes (through municipal governments or organizations involved with public interest) because it's in their interest to force everyone to swim down their regulated stream by penalizing those who choose otherwise even if it's at no cost to others

 "Fear is the Mind-Killer" - Bene Gesserit litany

This anecdote was significant to me as it contains so many examples of issues in our society, but in a small-scale orb.  It's easy to recognize that change is needed with the upbringing of our youth, as impotence in self-determination is both reinforced and exemplified when cops act hostile partly because that allows them to cope with the reality that they are pawns for carrying out institutional injustices that they may personally not agree with but are required to uphold to keep their jobs.  GoodCop admitted wanting to be able to climb around + swing "for a long time."

Liability has brought us Maps + Stories

When was the house you stay in constructed?  How about the school down the street?  And why are there those weird bridge-like things at the Florida Canal?

On the 3rd Floor of the New Orleans Public Library Main Branch is the collection of Sanborn Maps for the entire city.  Sanborn Map Company starting making these maps around the time of the Civil War for assessing fire insurance liability.  Aside from being beautiful (check out those north arrows!), they hold a wealth of information about city infrastructure + individual buildings' constructions + construction dates, while looking at several separately-dated maps gives a look into the way that urban landscapes have evolved.  Especially interesting are the maps from before/after 1960's + early 1970's, when neighborhoods were demolished for the construction of I-10 and I-610.  What stories will today's maps tell future generations?

Some of the older maps are available online:
nutrias.org --> search our databases --> history --> Sanborn Maps.  
Each volume contains a different section of the city, and each volume's scanned index is very helpful for finding street locations.

 

FTB16: Reconvening Recon Evening 1.17.13

 

HEY! 

On THURSDAY January 17, 2013 come to Sycamore House (3111 Palmyra St in Midcity) at 7pm for a Freedom To Build meetup potluck!  Aside from catching up and talking about what is on our minds around town, we will be collecting ideas for where to go and what to do in this next session of "classes."

Lopez Bridge is a litttttle less janky.  "No more broken heels"... "My daughter can play around there now n I'm not worried"... "Yall gonna mess something up (first time walkin by)... yall gonna mess somethin up (2nd time walkin by) ... oh man this is pretty nice (3rd time)"