Having just graduated from five years of architecture school in new orleans I have some suggestions that might be helpful. Let me preface by saying that to find representations of new or sustainable is difficult enough in New Orleans, never mind both of those traits in one building. New Orleans is a city that is very protective of its historical identity, economically (tied to tourism) and culturally. Unfortunately this has made it a city that has a tendency to favor a pastiche of kitsche historicism, failing to differentiate aesthetics from function. While the Make It Right foundation is doing some amazing things, a lot of the winning selections are aesthetic representations at best. I would look at workshop apd, eskew dumez and ripple, and trahan architects, I am not sure of these if any are built. This being said I would separate the two, new and sustainable, and look at them independently. I think there is a lot to learn from the truly historic buildings in the city, sustainably. If you contact Eugene Cizek at Tulane School of Arch as well as the Tulane City Center I am sure they could guide you to some good examples of both. If the students are of age, not that it mattes in NO, but a trip to the jazz bars on Frenchman St (ie Snug Harbor) is a must to start to comprehend the culture of the city. And, lastly, if you want to shock them, show them the Piazza d'Italia.

Vincent James' reworking of the Tulane University Center is pretty nice. I'm not sure about how Scogin Elam's Willow Street Dorms at Tulane have held up, but they looked pretty great when new.

Thanks these are great suggestions:

Will definitely see piazza d'italia as well as the Scogin Elam project. They are lecturing at our school in April so that would be a relevant project to see.

I think we will see the Make It Right houses as well.

These projects do not need to be perfect but I think as long we can discuss them and learn from them as students they're worth seeing.

I hear there's some good architecture on Bourbon St. 8)

to add to Deacon's post, finding "new" architecture here has always been a tough proposition - myabe you need to think about it from another angle - I don't visit Rome or Venice for "new" either - I go there for the urban fabric, for the joy on walking and experiencing the "city" itself, not pieces of modern architecture.

While there are a few palces to visit here if you must see new/intersting, why not spend some of your student's time visiting and appreciating what makes NOLA different from anyplace else - walk around uptown or marigny, take the ferry to Algiers Point, go barhopping in the non-touristy parts of the Quarter, etc etc.

I'll second cajunarch's point ... the food the city the music the feeling of the city is completely unique - no need to go looking for some uppity imported box architecture ...

Though I haven't seen any of the make it right projects in person, they look sort of disappointing from what I've seen so far. Not that I'm speaking negatively on the project; anything helping the city is a positive contribution, but it just seems like many of the homes became caricatures of the "typical new orleans home" rather then constructively working with the typology/context to create more efficient, cheaper homes.

With that said, I think the Greenbuild project is a good place to start if you're looking for sustainable:



Also, check out Wayne Troyer's rebuild center, which is a temporary structure using 6 old trailers:



Wayne also did a new dorm at Tulane but I never saw that get built. There's also the four Tulane Urban Build homes scattered around the city.

Byron Mouton (head of Urban Build) also has some interesting homes in the area, namely this one on Lowerline st:



and this one on Zimple st.



Old Tulane professor Steve Jacob's house is somewhere by the riverbend, can't remember what street tho:



and of all the EDR projects I like the chapel @ Ochsner:



They have a lot of great work outside of the city (Lafayette, Baton Rouge etc) as well.

In addition, check out the CAC, which was renovated in the 90's and is an awesome space, and the WWII Museum (and under construction addition) is right around the corner.

Also check out the excellent Regional Modernism blog, which is one of the best resources for modern architecture (both destroyed and still standing) in the city.

Another suggestion: your students should tune their radars to vernacular architecture. This city is brimming with outstanding examples of buildings that WORK. Those deep overhangs, shutters, floor to ceiling windows, high ceilings within, aligned doors/windows from front to back and covered balconies aren't all for nothing. The historic built environment is so closely in sync with the climate and these buildings would not make sense in any other part of the country. Also, New Orleans is a very dense city. Although filled with buildings of a small scale, the buildings are very close to one another creating a very urban (and walkable) environment. Most of the housing stock is around 100 years old, therefore built long before the advent/mass production of the automobile. What does it mean not only to occupy a historic city, but to additionally throw in the car (and lots of them!)? And...(I keep thinking of more as I type) another point of consideration is this city's long-standing role as the gateway to the Mississippi. Watching the barge/tanker traffic on the Mississippi River making its way to the Port of New Orleans is a pretty cool sight. Boats are either cleared to continue their journey or cargo is transferred to train cars where its moved by rail to every corner of the country. It's so easy to forget that products come far and wide to reach our grocery store and pharmacy shelves, and seeing these behemoth barges is an honest reminder of our dependency on transport, infrastructure and trade. In most cities, these systems are relegated to back allies and marginalized outskirts; in this case, however, because we're talking about the Mississippi River and this city is all about the river, it's a little more front and center.

There is so much to see here and what a unique place it is. Where are you coming from?

Where did all the money raised after the hurricane go?

Bump! Will be heading to NO for 4 days...and upon reading what others have mentioned, I think I'll just enjoy the sights and sounds of the city. :)

Check out the House of Dance and Feathers on Tupelo Street (very near the Make it Right stuff). A former professor of mine (Patrick Rhodes) did this with a group of volunteers for Ronald Lewis, who curates a museum for the Mardi Gras Indians. Make sure to look it up and contact Mr. Lewis though, as the museum is a building next to his house. He is a really good guy and would most likely love to show it off.

The Willow dorms have held up well (at least on the outside) and if you go to the LBC (the VJAA project) you will notice that the building isn't run the way it was meant to be.

There is a really cool modernist house by Arthur Davis (he did the Superdome) in the Garden District off of Washington and Camp I believe. Besides that, definitely take in the vernacular as it is pretty deep rooted in the vast majority of the work, new and old, down here.

Spend an afternoon walking the French Quarter with someone who really understands that vernacular architecture. Ess' comment above is right on. NO is filled with vernacular buildings that represent a living tradition which developed from many common-sense approaches to living in that climate and that culture. These are extremely wise buildings.