Download

Download Full Text (60.4 MB)

  • Download ThesisBook_Albrecht.pdf (4.4 MB)

  • Download ThesisPresentation_Albrecht.pdf (407.3 MB)

  • Download ThesisSupplement_Albrecht.pdf (15.7 MB)

Date of Award

5-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Architecture

College

Arts and Sciences

Department

Architecture

Faculty Advisor

Stephen Wischer

Studio Coordinator

Stephen Wischer

Faculty Chair

Susan Kliman

Publisher

North Dakota State University

Rights

NDSU policy 190.6.2

URI

https://www.ndsu.edu/fileadmin/policy/190.pdf

Abstract

Confluence reimagines the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans as a resilient waterfront community shaped by memory, ecology, and adaptive housing. Located along the Industrial Canal at the site of the 2005 levee breach, the project replaces defensive separation with an inhabitable water edge composed of amphibious housing, public circulation, constructed wetlands, visible water systems, and an underground memorial. The thesis argues that post-disaster rebuilding cannot be measured only by infrastructure or replacement housing, but by dignity, return, cultural identity, public health, and long-term stewardship. Through buoyant foundations, concealed mooring systems, passive climate strategies, and a spatial sequence that moves from light into reflection and back to the city, the proposal positions water as both environmental force and memorial medium. Confluence offers a model of resilience rooted in coexistence rather than control, transforming a site of failure into a place of return.

Confluence: From Barrier to Connection: Reconnecting the Lower Ninth Ward to the Industrial Canal Through an Inhabitable Water Edge

Share

COinS