Fellow Profile
Seth Welty
“Following Katrina, I was involved in post-storm design charettes and well-attended community meetings between area residents and urban planners. There was much talk of change and hope, but little follow-through or tangible results. I see the Rose Fellowship as an opportunity to affect real change in communities where hope can fall victim in the struggle to move home. The chance to engage communities and see projects through, from conception to reality is unique to the Rose Fellowship, and indispensable to the recovery of the Gulf Coast.”
— Seth Welty
Fellowship Host:
Gulf Coast Community Design Studio
Biloxi, Miss.
Seth Welty's commitment to community design was sparked during his master's studies at the Tulane School of Architecture when Hurricane Katrina exposed unspoken social injustices. "When I returned to New Orleans, I found that my prior perceptions of design were shattered. It became clear that architecture needed to take a more inclusive role in an environment where design services were needed by more than the topmost layers of social strata."
Now working in Biloxi, Miss., at the Gulf Coast Community Design Studio (GCCDS), Seth is able to focus his interest in community design on scales ranging from urban planning and mapping projects to the intimate design components of a house. Seth is currently working on multi-unit projects in Biloxi, Gulfport, and Pass Christian, as well as individual homes in east Biloxi. He is also in the process of crafting design standards for the studio that advocate energy-efficient systems and healthy, sustainable material usage.
While in school, Seth played a major role in Tulane's pilot URBANbuild program, which investigated existing models and proposed more affordable, safe and sustainable alternatives. Seth was a lead designer in the first URBANbuild design/build house, which was exhibited at the 2006 Venice Biennale Exhibition: URBANbuild. Seth received the John Lawrence Memorial Medal for Design Excellence from Tulane School of Architecture and continued his design work with the Tulane City Center. Seth also received a Best in Show for his salvaged-material "Oak Floor Chair" at the 2008 Salvations Juried Furniture Competition, sponsored by the Green Project in New Orleans.
Now working in Biloxi, Miss., at the Gulf Coast Community Design Studio (GCCDS), Seth is able to focus his interest in community design on scales ranging from urban planning and mapping projects to the intimate design components of a house. Seth is currently working on multi-unit projects in Biloxi, Gulfport, and Pass Christian, as well as individual homes in east Biloxi. He is also in the process of crafting design standards for the studio that advocate energy-efficient systems and healthy, sustainable material usage.
While in school, Seth played a major role in Tulane's pilot URBANbuild program, which investigated existing models and proposed more affordable, safe and sustainable alternatives. Seth was a lead designer in the first URBANbuild design/build house, which was exhibited at the 2006 Venice Biennale Exhibition: URBANbuild. Seth received the John Lawrence Memorial Medal for Design Excellence from Tulane School of Architecture and continued his design work with the Tulane City Center. Seth also received a Best in Show for his salvaged-material "Oak Floor Chair" at the 2008 Salvations Juried Furniture Competition, sponsored by the Green Project in New Orleans.
Gallery
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Seth Welty
