The Pontchartrain Park + Gentilly Woods Neighborhood Design Weekend was a collaboration between Longue Vue Gardens and the Pontilly Disaster Collaborative. Pontchartrain Park was developed in large part by Longue Vue’s owners, Edith and Edgar Stern. The first planned community accessible to middle-class and professional African-Americans in segregated New Orleans, the neighborhood became a launching ground for prominent activists, politicians, and civic leaders. Pontchartrain Park represents the Sterns’ commitment to civil rights, and it is also evidence of their concern for landscape design: its beautiful streets, gardens, and public spaces have always been an essential part of its identity.

Pontchartrain Park and its neighbor, Gentilly Woods, were hit hard by Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, and Longue Vue is working with the Pontilly Disaster Collaborative to help residents of both neighborhoods rebuild. To move that initiative forward, the Pontchartrain Park + Gentilly Woods Design Weekend brought together former speakers from Longue Vue’s Catherine Brown Memorial Lecture Series; design educators from Louisiana and afar; students from Louisiana State University, the University of Virginia, Tulane University, and Southern University; residents of Pontchartrain Park and Gentilly Woods; and a wide range of experts, advisors, and advocates for rebuilding New Orleans. The work generated from the Weekend built on the Pontilly Neighborhood Association’s master plan and on research by landscape architecture students at the University of Virginia and Louisiana State University. The goal was to develop specific site design strategies that move the master plan toward implementation.

The Weekend’s efforts were in memory of Catherine Brown,
a New Orleans native, landscape architect, and longtime friend of Longue Vue.

For additional informaiton please contact: Hilairie at hschackai@longuevue.com or 504.488.5488 ext 401