CONVERGENCE AT THE
SUGAR EXCHANGE
Collaborated with Andrew Bogossian
Convergence at the Sugar Exchange is a center for Creole culture in New Orleans. Drawing from the structural formation of Creole language and culture, program and activities at the center intersect, overlap, and converge to blend experiences, reconsider traditional interactions, and reconstitute the traditional performer-viewer experience to add to the vibrant and unique culture of New Orleans and Creole people.
Sited along the Mississippi River, bordering the French Quarter and Central Business District, the Sugar Exchange location is an ideal one for such a project as its historical basis as a location of commerce and exchange is reconsidered in the Convergence as a cultural and experiential exchange between dancers, musicians, makers, researchers, community members, and visitors. These varying urban conditions are mediated by Convergence through adhering to an intersection of the grids which arise from the formation of each city district and the curvature of the Mississippi River.
The main arcade of the site has seasonal use as a Mardi Gras route, while its curvature and wrapping transitions it from an exterior space to one that feels more enclosed and interior. Convergence at the Sugar Exchange seeks to not define Creole and the culture of New Orleans, but to be a beneficial landmark to allow for it to continue to change and progress.
The project’s ground floor mediates public and private spaces through using gallery and exhibitions spaces as buffers which act as soft separations between exterior and interior, visitor and resident, and program and service. As your progress vertically through the space, outlooks intersect the building and break separations creating united spaces which re-engage with one another.