Sinking and Shrinking Cities: New Orleans and Venice in Comparison: syllabus
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Berndt Ostendorf, Ludwig Maximilians Universität - Luca Pes, Venice International University
Course outline
Introduction
Does a comparison between New Orleans and Venice make sense at all?
What are the differences, and what are the similarities?
Geography and Ecology: Site
(What is historically the environment, in which the city was built?)
NEW ORLEANS: Bayous and Wetlands. Mississippi: River & hinterland. Atlantic: Sea
Ecological site
VENICE. Rivers and Marshlands: Adriatic Sea. Lagoon. Islands
(Transitory Environment, subject to constant change)
Construction of the City
(interaction between man and nature in the construction of the city)
NEW ORLEANS: First settlements. 18-19th C urban development. Construction of canals and dams. Architectural typology (low-rise buildings)
VENICE: Sanding. Shaping canals Diverting rivers Building sea walls
Houses on wooden pillars Lagoon invention, management and sustainability
Cristallization of Urban Shape
History and its sedimentations: Situation
NEW ORLEANS: Postcolonial palimpsest of three colonial empires.
French 1718-1763, Spanish 1763-1802, American 1803-ff. Caribbean connections: St. Domingue/Havanna Multiculturalism Creolization and hybridity
VENICE. Byzantine Province: Capital of Sea Empire. War and Trade in the East
Peak of Power. Fall in 1797. Discourses on Decadence. Austrian and French City
Italianization
Society. Social Structures. Governance
NEW ORLEANS: Slavery and Race: Tripartite racial system vs. the color line. Immigration and ethnic groups: The construction of neighborhoods Creoles, Cajuns, Blacks, Germans, Irish, Italians, Jews. Political Corruption.
VENICE: A Merchant-Aristocratic Republic. Social Stability and Cohesion
Social Policies. National Religion. Immigration. Cosmopolitanism and Segregation of Foreigners. With Napoleon: from orders to classes
20th Century Modernization and Industrialization
NEW ORLEANS: Riverport and Seaport with Atlantic and Hemispheric networks.
Industrial Base: Oil, Port. Urbanization. Golden Age (1950-60). De-Industrialization and White Flight. Tourism Disneyfication Conference Centre Gambling
VENICE. Industrial Port of Marghera. Elite Tourism. New Urban Order. After the war : advent of mass tourism. After 1950 : “exodus” from Historic Center. After 1970 : industrial crisis
Catastrophes and Post-Catastrophe Trends
NEW ORLEANS. Floods & Epidemics. Flood of 1927. Betsy and Katrina. Regenerating N.O.
Ecological vs. economic considerations
VENICE: Aqua alta 1966. Crisis of the New Order. Save Venice
Why Should Venice and New Orleans Be Saved? High or Popular Cultural Capital
NEW ORLEANS: music and carnival culture
Louis Moreau Gottschalk, Jazz, Jazzfunerals
Mardi Gras Indians and a Second Line Culture
VENICE: Urban and water experience. Art and architecture. City of Memory. Music, Food, Carnival. Pro and against Venice
Perspectives
New Orleans: Levees and floodwalls. Reform of Army Corps of Engineers and of Levee boards. Mr. Go.
Venice: Future scenarios
N.B. Program is subject to change
Introduction
Does a comparison between New Orleans and Venice make sense at all?
What are the differences, and what are the similarities?
Geography and Ecology: Site
(What is historically the environment, in which the city was built?)
NEW ORLEANS: Bayous and Wetlands. Mississippi: River & hinterland. Atlantic: Sea
Ecological site
VENICE. Rivers and Marshlands: Adriatic Sea. Lagoon. Islands
(Transitory Environment, subject to constant change)
Construction of the City
(interaction between man and nature in the construction of the city)
NEW ORLEANS: First settlements. 18-19th C urban development. Construction of canals and dams. Architectural typology (low-rise buildings)
VENICE: Sanding. Shaping canals Diverting rivers Building sea walls
Houses on wooden pillars Lagoon invention, management and sustainability
Cristallization of Urban Shape
History and its sedimentations: Situation
NEW ORLEANS: Postcolonial palimpsest of three colonial empires.
French 1718-1763, Spanish 1763-1802, American 1803-ff. Caribbean connections: St. Domingue/Havanna Multiculturalism Creolization and hybridity
VENICE. Byzantine Province: Capital of Sea Empire. War and Trade in the East
Peak of Power. Fall in 1797. Discourses on Decadence. Austrian and French City
Italianization
Society. Social Structures. Governance
NEW ORLEANS: Slavery and Race: Tripartite racial system vs. the color line. Immigration and ethnic groups: The construction of neighborhoods Creoles, Cajuns, Blacks, Germans, Irish, Italians, Jews. Political Corruption.
VENICE: A Merchant-Aristocratic Republic. Social Stability and Cohesion
Social Policies. National Religion. Immigration. Cosmopolitanism and Segregation of Foreigners. With Napoleon: from orders to classes
20th Century Modernization and Industrialization
NEW ORLEANS: Riverport and Seaport with Atlantic and Hemispheric networks.
Industrial Base: Oil, Port. Urbanization. Golden Age (1950-60). De-Industrialization and White Flight. Tourism Disneyfication Conference Centre Gambling
VENICE. Industrial Port of Marghera. Elite Tourism. New Urban Order. After the war : advent of mass tourism. After 1950 : “exodus” from Historic Center. After 1970 : industrial crisis
Catastrophes and Post-Catastrophe Trends
NEW ORLEANS. Floods & Epidemics. Flood of 1927. Betsy and Katrina. Regenerating N.O.
Ecological vs. economic considerations
VENICE: Aqua alta 1966. Crisis of the New Order. Save Venice
Why Should Venice and New Orleans Be Saved? High or Popular Cultural Capital
NEW ORLEANS: music and carnival culture
Louis Moreau Gottschalk, Jazz, Jazzfunerals
Mardi Gras Indians and a Second Line Culture
VENICE: Urban and water experience. Art and architecture. City of Memory. Music, Food, Carnival. Pro and against Venice
Perspectives
New Orleans: Levees and floodwalls. Reform of Army Corps of Engineers and of Levee boards. Mr. Go.
Venice: Future scenarios
N.B. Program is subject to change
