A Giganitic Trigone Designed for New Orleans

NOAH (New Orleans Arcology Habitat) or Arco(short for arcology), this massive trigone building that contains all the elements of a city within one structure. NOAH is a 1200-foot-tall arco designed especially for New Orleans. NOAH proposes to be a habitat for 40,000 residents who can benefit from the planned residential units, school system, commercial, retail, hotels, casinos, parking, and public works facilities. And features this structure will use an array of green systems, including solar panels, water turbines, wind turbines, fresh water recovery, and a passive solar glazing system.
Design Challenge:
1. The first challenge is to overcome both the physical and psychological damages of recurring severe weather patterns. Though re-population has begun, the need to provide a stabilized and safe environment is paramount to a long term recovery and economic well being of New Orleans.
2. The second challenge is that New Orleans has too much water. The city has been built at and below sea levels which creates consistently high water table and makes it prone to flooding and storm surges.
3. The third challenge is that New Orleans is built on soil condition which consists of thousands of feet of soft soil, silt and clay. These conditions make building large scale concentrated structures difficult.
Believing that NOAH is a viable plan, our solution to overcome these challenges is to take advantage of these seemingly conflicting issues with the introduction of a floating urban platform.


"The proposal places this 30 million-square-foot monstrosity on the Mississippi riverfront, just across from the central business district of New Orleans. Atop the multi-cavity all which will attempt to be hurricane proof, there will be 20,000 residential units, three hotels, 1,000,000 square feet of commercial space, plenty of cultural facilities and offices, a 20,000 healthcare clinic, and of course, just for fun, a trio of casinos."

NOAH Team

Design / Concept:
E. Kevin Schopfer AIA, RIBA

Executive Architect:
Ahearn / Schopfer Associates; Boston, MA
Cambridge Seven Associates, Inc.; Cambridge, MA

Associate Architect:
Raymond C. Bergeron, NCARB; New Orleans, LA

Visual:
Tangram 3DS; Kittery, ME

Structural / Mechanical:
Arup; Boston, London

Foundation Consultants:
Acergy; New Orleans, LA

via likecool.com