The CITYbuild Consortium of Schools is a collective of national university-based programs working cooperatively to address the community rebuilding challenges of New Orleans. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the destruction of the city’s physical, social and cultural fabric leaves a vast and complex problem necessitating progressive strategies for collaboration and exchange at an unprecedented level. The schools comprising the CITYbuild Consortium recognize the opportunity to have significantly greater influence and impact through combined efforts, coordinated initiatives and cooperative exchange of information and resources. Through the planning and rebuilding process, the CITYbuild Consortium works for social justice by partnering directly with local community groups to address both their immediate and long-term sustainable needs.
                                               
The CITYbuild Consortium emerged in the Fall of 2005 from among a group of design and planning schools seeking to understand how to respond to the overwhelming cleanup and rebuilding needs of a great, but crippled, American city. In the face of the enormous destruction, the desire to help was met with the unavoidable need to work together, Through multi-disciplinary collaborations and the coordination of work in concentrated areas, it was envisioned that every individual effort might be exponentially increased to meet the scale of need and have a significant impact. And through this work a model for inter-university collaboration might be formalized which could be applied to other urban centers in crisis as a result of natural or man-made disasters.

Program Description               
Hosted in New Orleans by the Tulane City Center, the CITYbuild Consortium is in the process of being established as an independent non-profit organization. The CITYbuild Consortium is currently comprised of 13 Institutions: University of Arkansas, Boston Architectural College, University of Southern California, University of Kansas, University of Kentucky, MIT, University of Minnesota, University of Montana, University of Texas at Arlington, Tulane University, Washington University, Wentworth Institute of Technology, and Design Corps. 

Practical services provided through the consortium include:

• Establishing an overall collaborative agenda for work in a target area and coordinating the efforts of multiple participants to ensure that programs active in the host city are complimentary rather than competitive.
• Linking individual academic programs with community based clients (CDC’s, Neighborhood Associations, etc.) in the host location.
• Mediating between academic programs and clients, including political and municipal authorities.
• Providing a point of contact in the host city to assist with logistics such as accommodations, classroom space, and other local information.
• Identifying specific projects and assisting with local data gathering.
• Acting as a central repository for data and making data accessible through web resources and physical documents.
• Acting as a forum to benefit from shared experiences and lessons learned.
• Documenting projects and processes for exchange and publication.

Projects                                  
Completed and current projects address the rebuilding challenges at a variety of scales involving planning and urban design, real estate development, building design and design/build, landscape architecture and environmental studies. Please find examples of completed and current projects in the Schools and Community Partners section of www.citybuild.org.

PEX Projects Completed and current projects address the rebuilding challenges at a variety of scales involving planning and urban design, real estate development, building design and design/build, landscape architecture and environmental studies. Please find examples of plumbing supplies in the Plumbing Tubing Store and PEX Tubing Partners section of www.pexuniverse.com.

 

 

Many thanks to PEX Universe who provide PEX Plumbing supplies and Radiant Heating needs such as: PEX tubing, PEX manifolds, PEX fittings, PEX pipe, PEX Tools for Tubing and Taco 007.