To the origins
Created by a society of hunter-gatherers between 3700 and 3100 B.C., the monumental mounds of Poverty Point testify to an extreme refinement in the mastery of earthen architecture. Five mounds, six concentric semi-elliptical ridges, an esplanade, and the remains of a roadway are still visible. The rearrangement of the ground visible under the surface of these structures testifies to an astonishing system of earthworks imagined to fight against erosion and to give the mounds the desired shape. On the esplanade, holes, undoubtedly intended to receive wooden posts, are still visible and allow us to guess what this first human settlement might have looked like.
French and Spanish influences
The original plan of New Orleans was designed by a French military engineer who imagined a checkerboard structure with perfect street divisions... the Vieux Carré was born, even if the plan is actually rectangular! At the beginning, the buildings were all built on the same model with a slightly raised first floor and covered with bark and shingles; the plots were divided in such a way as to allow each building to benefit from a courtyard and a garden. These early buildings are often referred to as "Creole cottages". At the same time, the French had opted for brick and stone for their public and religious buildings, such as the Cabildo (former governor's palace) and the Old Ursuline Convent, which are among the oldest buildings in the city. Marked by the repeated fires, the Spaniards decided to permanently modify the face of New Orleans. Wooden constructions were forbidden. Brick became the preferred material, while tiles replaced wooden shingles on the roofs. Buildings were given one or two extra floors, and the cramped courtyards reserved for the common areas were transformed into pleasant and vast courtyards and interior patios. The interior facades have two levels of loggias decorated with semi-circular or basket-handle arches. On the street side, the facades are now punctuated by an imposing porte-cochère and balconies with elegant ironwork
But it would be too simple to say that such and such an architecture is only French and such and such only Spanish, because very quickly Louisiana developed a unique Creole style, made of multiple influences. It is particularly important to adapt the architecture to the climatic conditions. The Creole houses gradually acquired large porches or roof overhangs creating protective galleries. In the same way, the height under the ceiling was increased in order to facilitate natural ventilation. Ventilation is achieved through an ingenious system of air currents in the astonishing "bracket shotgun" style houses. Very narrow, these houses are designed to fit the plot of land that is often deeper than it is wide. The term "shotgun" refers to the enfilade organization of the rooms with all the doors aligned... so a bullet fired at the entrance could pass through the entire household! The term "bracket" refers to the brackets supporting the projecting roof that protects the façade. The elevation of these houses on brick pillars also allowed them to be kept away from humidity and to promote ventilation. From their Caribbean origins, these houses have kept their amazing and vibrant colors. Many can be found in the Marigny and Bywater neighborhoods of New Orleans.
The historic district of Natchitoches is another superb concentration of this mixture of genres and influences. The French and Spanish presence was also evident in the development of defensive architecture. Fort Rosalie is one of the first white settlements among the Natchez Indians; while Fort Saint-Jean illustrates the evolution of military defenses, the Spaniards having reinforced this originally wooden French fort with brick.
The Vermilionville Living History Museum, a sort of open-air museum, houses beautiful reconstructions and authentic houses typical of an 18th and 19th century Acadian village. The Acadian habitat, whose first structures were inspired by stilt housing with the creation of a platform on wooden posts adapted to the swampy ground, was then tinged with Louisiana Creole influences with additional floors, galleries and high gables. In the famous bayous, the Cajuns have developed an original habitat, between houses on stilts and floating wooden houses, all vernacular treasures now threatened by the rising waters..
Planting
The plantation houses, known as the first colonial era, are often single-story or one-story with multiple dormers (small skylights protected by a roof), all in length, and surrounded by parks and gardens with pretty gazebos (small ornamental pavilions serving as a belvedere). Mount Hope and The Myrtles are fine examples. As their fortunes grew, the rich planters opted for a grand neoclassical style, known here as the Greek Revival, transforming their homes into veritable antique palaces. The main house of the Nottoway plantation is one of the most sumptuous in Louisiana. Judge for yourself: 22 Corinthian columns, a hemicycle gallery, 65 rooms, 7 staircases and a ballroom all in white marble and wood. InOak Alley Plantation, a driveway lined with 28 white oaks leads to a house with 28 Doric columns whose belvedere offers a view of the 28 outbuildings of the estate! Some of the houses will then be adorned with the trappings of eclecticism, such as the San Francisco Plantation, whose style has been described by some as "steamboat gothic. The silhouette of the house is reminiscent of the superb steamboats sailing along the Mississippi! Other beautiful plantations include Houmas House, Parlange, Rosedown and Laura, the most colorful Creole of them all. But don't let this splendor make you forget that the whole plantation system is based on the exploitation of man by man. Some plantations still have the basic wooden shacks and huts in which slaves were forced to live. Whitney Plantation is entirely dedicated to this subject. The city of Alexandria has preserved the Edwin Epps House. With the architect and carpenter Samuel Bass, Edwin Epps, the author of 12 Years a Slave, built this wooden house with a brick chimney and a porch-gallery... a modest home that allowed him to finally escape his condition as a slave.
Power and modernity
To counter foreign influences and impose their mark, the Americans multiplied the townhouses, recognizable by their narrow silhouette, their three-story structure in stucco or brick and their balcony on thesecond floor; as well as the three-bay buildings, symbols of an architecture that was already becoming standardized. But the young nation also dreamed of itself as the "New Athens", a symbol of democratic omnipotence. The Greek Revival was the perfect style to underline this power. Rethinking urban planning completely, with large, straight, tree-lined avenues, and emphasizing the business center, the Central Business District, the Americans endowed their public buildings with columns, pilasters and pediments and dressed them in immaculate white. The mansions in Uptown and the public buildings in the New Orleans business district are perfect examples. At the same time, the Americans reinforced existing military buildings and built new ones, such as Forts Macomb and Pike
, which were part of an ambitious defense plan called the "Third System" and consisted of 42 stone fortresses designed to adapt to the evolution of artillery, especially cannons. At the turn of the 20th century, Louisiana also succumbed to Victorian eclecticism, drawing on the sources of all past styles. The churches are amazing representatives of this "neo" wave. See the impressive Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Lafayette, a mix of neo-Byzantine and neo-Gothic with its domes and arches. Some private homes are also bold in their styles. The Doullut Steamboat Houses in the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans are authentic Victorian masterpieces. Metal column balconies, railings and large chimneys transform these houses into static steamboats. Looking for something unusual? Be sure to visit the cemeteries of New Orleans. Built below sea level, the city is forced to bury its dead above the waterlogged ground in brick tombs covered with stucco, granite or marble, some of which are eclectically decorated. This return to past styles is also used for those who are nevertheless the paragons of modernity: the skyscrapers! Downtown Shreveport has some fine examples, such as the neo-Gothic Slattery Building with its pointed arches and turrets, or the more Italianate Justin Gras Building with its stylized frames. Gradually, Louisiana moved away from this somewhat sclerotic historicism and turned to the more refined lines of modernity. Art Deco found its most beautiful representative in the Louisiana State Capitol in Baton Rouge... a sobriety far from the Louisiana'Old State Capitol and its crenellated turrets. The streamline modern style, inspired by kinetics and new modes of transportation, offers buildings with aerodynamic silhouettes, using glass, steel and aluminum. Then the international style curtain walls came to adorn the facades of the business center towers. Architects, entrepreneurs and innovators, the Wiener brothers were permanently influenced by their trip to Europe and their discovery of the Bauhaus, whose principles they wished to apply in their city of Shreveport, which was then booming. Their creations are characterized by a play on materials (concrete, wood, brick, glass), flat roofs, simplicity of geometric volumes (usually cubic or rectangular), play on perspectives and cantilevered elements, and harmonious integration with the environment. Ed Wile's Villa, the Mayer House, Bossier High School and the Samuel G. Wiener House are among their most beautiful creations. Baton Rouge, on the other hand, bears the mark of another leading architect of the time: A. Hays Town. In 1939, he founded his firm in Baton Rouge, which became the most important in the state after the war. While his career began under the most classical auspices of modernism, as evidenced by the Union Federal Savings and Loan Building, from the 1960s onward, Hays Town devoted himself to purely residential architecture, for which he drew inspiration from Louisiana's vernacular traditions. His work is characterized by the reuse of materials, the importance given to details, the use of rich and varied colors, generous proportions and a permanent adaptation to the climates thanks to courtyards and fountains, large shutters and brick floor elevations. In all, he built more than 1,000 houses!Contemporary architecture
The 1970s in New Orleans were marked by three astonishing buildings: the sleek Shell Tower designed by the famous SOM agency, which can claim to be the tallest building in Louisiana; the Caesars Superdome, which is the largest clear-span fixed-dome structure in the world; and above all, the architectural UFO that is the Piazza d'Italia designed by Charles Moore. A great figure of postmodernism, Moore is famous for his art of pastiche, which reaches its peak here with this square and fountain drawing the contours of Italy, and multiplying monumental colonnades and other stylized capitals. The new contemporary buildings in Louisiana are also original, starting with the incredible Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in Natchitoches, designed by Trahan Architects. Its sober, geometric exterior hints at the wonderful play of fluid, organic curves that bring the interiors to life. In Baton Rouge, the Capitol Park Museum, recognizable by its concrete, glass and metal envelope and its monumental porch, is one of the most beautiful contemporary achievements.
After Hurricane Katrina, 80% of New Orleans was submerged and 130,000 homes were destroyed or damaged. The Lower Ninth Ward still bears the heavy scars of the disaster. It is in this neighborhood that Brad Pitt's Make it Right Foundation has decided to create subdivisions of small houses designed as contemporary reinterpretations of the Creole tradition. For the occasion, the actor even hired the services of the famous Franck Gehry... but today, all these achievements are falling into ruin because of poor quality materials. But let's skip these failures and focus on how the vibrant NOLA has risen again. The Bywater neighborhood has been transformed, where docks and warehouses have been redeveloped into trendy galleries. In the heart of the Upper Ninth Ward, Musician's Village is once again the vibrant heart of the jazz capital. The small houses here are home to musicians of modest means. Among the city's cultural landmarks, don't miss the National WWII Museum, a large concrete structure with protruding volumes that houses a multi-pavilion structure. From the Treme neighborhood, the old railroad tracks have been rehabilitated into a pedestrian promenade and bike path, the Lafitte Greenway. Crescent Park is another superb example of how nature is reclaiming spaces that were heavily influenced by the city's industrial and port activities. Recently, the prolific Louisiana firm of Wagonner & Ball proposed a new urban plan to change the relationship of the inhabitants to the water, inspired by the actions of Dutch architects and urban planners. Their idea? To imagine a network of canals, galleries and flood gardens where water would be managed and channeled and would beautify the landscape. New Orleans has not said its last word!
