Topic!

Remember, this is being written a year before my thesis is going to be presented. So read this with One. Heck. Of. A. Grain. Of. Salt.
My project is going to be some sort of intervention into the United States Immigration Court in New Orleans, Louisiana. (1 Canal Street New Orleans, LA).

Immigration interested me as a topic for many reasons.

a) SCALE:
My project (I've already decided) is going to be small scale, probably a series of walls that are going to be inserted into an existing space. However, by tying the project to an issue of a much larger scale, the wall can be symbolic as well as just experiential. For the most part the design moves that I make will be directly tied to the spaces that they create. But now, the wall is also more significant than my specific site, so that I can attempt to deal with, for example, the architecture of power, which has a lot of interesting precedents (Panopticon, etcetera.)

b) Relevance to New Orleans:
Until Census data becomes available in December 2010, it is not certain how much the Latino population in New Orleans has risen in the years since Katrina. But most estimates imagine a 6% leap, from 3.1% of the population before Katrina, to 9% post-Katrina. This population jump is important to New Orleans for two reasons:
i. It is directly related to the trauma that has shaken New Orleans in the past.
ii. It will shape New Orleans in the future, changing the make-up of the public school system, the demands on the public health system, and the needs and wants of the people of New Orleans. http://www.immigrationhereandthere.org/2008/03/nuevo_new_orleans_latino_immig.php
iii. The huge influx of illegal immigrants, which for at least the reconstruction period of New Orleans constituted 25% of the labor force (http://www.allbusiness.com/educational-services/colleges-universities/4095620-1.html), was a very explosive issue (http://www.sptimes.com/2005/10/23/Worldandnation/Who_s_rebuilding_New_.shtml) at least during the months following Katrina, and probably until now.

c) human interest:
Each individual coming before this court is profoundly invested in the proceedings. The Court can decide whether they are deported or can stay in the United States. Becoming a citizen, apart from the legal standpoint, shapes one's self-awareness and sense of identity. Being deported, on the other hand, touches on deep fears, and creates a visceral sense of dis-orientation. All of these feelings have great spatial potential.

Relevance and Function of the Site:
The Immigration Court of New Orleans decides the cases of illegal immigrants that have been detained in New Orleans. It can recommend the removal of immigrants, or recommend that their legal status be regularized.