A Resident Of The Gulf Shows How Ridiculous Architecture Has Become

I've never met Prof. Peronnet, but I'd bet real money that he thinks of himself and his work as liberal and socially progressive. Like many architecture professors, however, he shows a complete disdain for the wishes of the people for whom he's supposed to be working. His rant is an insult to the victims of Katrina.

I've known the author of the following e-mail for many years. She was born in Louisiana, lives on the Panhandle not far from Seaside, and volunteered for the Mississippi Renewal charrette.

She's handbuilt an amazing house on the Panhandle, entirely made from materials she's salvaged and recycled, without paying for either the materials or labor. She lives on an income that's a fraction of an architecture professor's salary.

The Katrins cottage — it feels good, it feels familiar, to a person raised in the South, does each generation have to reinvent themselves to be cool? We can learn from our ancestors, take the best from the past, treat it with respect and improve as tecnology gives us the tools to make things better.

Instead of Ranting during this overwhelming housing shortage why doesn't the Ranter build something, words are easy to put on a page but doors that open, windows that breath and beds to sleep in, that is a lot more complicated and takes commitment and hard work.

Why is a small Southern Cottage, the one that evoked the wrath of the writer, not considered to having  the quality of being clever, original, and inventive? If he looked inside the Katrina cottage and saw how the space was used maximizing each square inch, he would see inventive.  Would he be happier if there were no porches or no overhang, would it be better if it was flat roofed, like the many relief trailers, that leak, scattered through out Mississippi and Louisiana.  What is the point?  These designs have been proven to stand up to the wind, rain and heat, that all Southerns must deal with through out the year. i can tell you with out a doubt that here in the south we love our beautiful small buildings with porches so we can sit and enjoy summer afternoons, we like overhaning roofs, they sheds rain quickly and keep our windows dry in downpours, we like big  windows for viewing tranquill gardens shaded by magnificent oaks,

As the author raves about burning a well built structure that will house a family of four and give a sense of home, where a fema trailer will be towed away in 18 months, it is a diservice to all the homeless people scattered through the South. Even the best Mobile homes, if you could get one, are particle board, aluminum, boxes, with the biggest change in 20 years, a 60 gallon garden tub, which most who live in these homes can hardly afford to heat the bath water. The mythological Phonix bird that was mentioned is said to have lived for six centuries in the Arabian desert, burning itself on a funeral pyre and rising from the ashes with renewed youth to live through another cycle. What about another cycle, longevity, still to this day you can hardly beat an arabian tent for comfortable desert living, what is wrong with designs that are tryed and true. Should good design not be respected for it's ability to span generations.

The Katrins cottage — it feels good, it feels familiar, to a person raised in the South, does each generation have to reinvent themselves to be cool? We can learn from our ancestors, take the best from the past, treat it with respect and improve as tecnology gives us the tools to make things better.

Instead of Ranting during this overwhelming housing shortage why doesn't the Ranter build something, words are easy to put on a page but doors that open, windows that breath and beds to sleep in, that is a lot more complicated and take commitment and hard work.... Leah