Katrina Cottage Wins People’s Design Award; Prince’s Guitar Crushed

It’s official! The Katrina Cottage is a fitting winner of the first-ever People’s Design Award:

At the Mississippi Renewal Forum in October 2005, just six weeks after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, architect and planner Andres Duany developed the concept for the Katrina Cottage. Marianne Cusato devised the design in response to the short-term limitations of FEMA trailers. The Katrina Cottage is a small, permanent house that is safe, affordable and can be assembled quickly. The cottages are engineered to withstand at 140-mph winds and can be constructed with wood or steel framing and are finished with Hardie Board cement siding and a metal roof. The national retailer Lowe’s is introducing kit versions of four Katrina Cottage designs in November.

“The Katrina Cottage is a dignified alternative to conventional temporary housing,” said Cooper-Hewitt director Paul Warwick Thompson. “Marianne Cusato’s design offers a long-term solution for displaced families and I’m thrilled that so many people voted for a socially conscious design that could help thousands in need in the Gulf Coast region.”

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