STUDIO OVERVIEW
The Plessy v. Ferguson case marks one of the most defining chapters in American history, where the Supreme Court codified systemic inequality through its "separate but equal" doctrine. Homer Plessy's arrest in 1892, orchestrated by New Orleans' Comité des Citoyens, challenged Louisiana's Separate Car Act in a deliberate act of resistance. Though intended to confront the injustice of segregation, the 1896 decision legitimized decades of systemic racism, entrenching divides that persist in urban planning, architecture, and community disinvestment.
Bywater, the site of Plessy's arrest, is inextricably tied to this legacy of resistance and oppression. Once a working-class neighborhood shaped by diverse Creole histories, Bywater suffered decades of disinvestment, leaving its infrastructure and spaces to reflect segregation's inequities. Recent reinvestment has brought gentrification, displacing long-time residents while transforming the neighborhood into a cultural focal point. Amid these changes, artists like Brandan "BMIKE" Odums use large-scale public art to connect Bywater's layered history to contemporary struggles, creating spaces that inspire reflection and challenge complacency.
This studio builds on these narratives, asking how a memorial to Plessy's resistance might also address the results of systemic oppression today. Using StudioBE, BMIKE's 35,000-square-foot exhibition space near Plessy's arrest site, students will propose a dynamic neighborhood development plan, including but not limited to such programs as a memorial to Homer Plessy's resistance and legacy, live/work artist housing, studio and gallery spaces, and commercial development. Students in this studio will not only design an urban form but will engage in analysis of real estate values and costs, be expected to analyze zoning and Floor Area Ratio, and propose viable solutions with a mix of conceptual and real world expectations by studying and tweaking proformas from their proposed development. The goal is to empower artists and the community as owners in the value they create, crafting a future that honors the past and the significance of this place, without DIS-placing those whose inspiration and artistic expression shaped it.