Roam Sweet Roam

In designing a collective housing complex for an intentional New Orleans community, I sought out underrepresented groups with the goal of establishing New Orleans as a productive post-COVID city. As COVID-19 has revolutionized not only health practices, but also the concept of in-person jobs, I designed this project with exactly that in mind. I chose a community that stays in motion and would certainly take advantage of the newly established remote-work opportunities - Nomads.

There are currently no Nomadic housing communities in Louisiana, however these types of neighborhoods have recently been popping up across the country. This project accommodates 4 different types of Nomads; First, Auto Nomads - those who live and travel in auto-homes or RVs. Second, Digital Nomads - New Orleans was named a “best city for digital nomads” in 2017 making the city an ideal location for this project. Third, Peripatetic Nomads - Those who live and travel in tents. And finally fourth, Lessee Nomads - An unfamiliar type of Nomads to New Orleans.

In this project, I honed in on four design considerations; Community engagement, New Orleans typology, nomadic adaption and complex geometry. In addressing how different subgroups of the community would interact with the project I created different thresholds of engagement for public, communal, private and nomadic use. The complex also possesses intrinsic New Orleans qualities such as exterior patios, iron railings, cast iron columns and an authentic community emblem. There are 58 housing units for Lesee Nomads, 12 campgrounds for Peripatetic Nomads, 8 RV lots for Auto Nomads, and three flexible work space buildings for Digital Nomads. Finally, I reenvisioned the urban grid and implemented an unconventional 30 degree grid informed by the unconventional manner of nomadic housing. I also developed four different housing units taking on the form of basic shapes.

Roam Sweet Roam rethinks how we understand campsites, explores new possibilities for architecture on wheels, transforms public spaces into flexible offices and ultimately denies residential permanency. Roam Sweet Roam embraces the roving lifestyle and fascinates the urban vagabond in it’s nomadic architecture, redefining what it means to be houseless.