Duality: New Orleans is known as a city with rich culture, good food and music, where every night the streets invite people to party.  Its creole architecture creates an atmosphere that is known only to this place. But the buildings constructed hundreds of years ago were designed with focus on a different lifestyle. Right now the townhouses in New Orleans lead two very different lives – the ordinary one filled with daily routines and the loud and colourful one that comes every night.

Because the city is so diverse, collage seems like the most appropriate mean to express its chaos and intensity. Here’s a glimpse of everyday life in New Orleans, or rather the duality of it during day/night.

Street life: Townhouses on Bourbon Street usually attract more interest after sunset. Night time means that the buildings are colourful from the neon lights, partying people and decorations.

But after every night the day comes;  people leave their flats to go to work and the townhouses become empty and quiet.  The bars on ground floor are closed to the public and only neon signs remind the pedestrians that there is a different life happening at night.

For those who aren’t familiar with the rhythm, the extreme opposites might make the city look bland in the daylight. This raises a question about how people perceive the duality of townhouses and how it affects their daily life.

Daily rhythm: It’s the people living in townhouses that decide on how to approach the duality of the city; whether they follow the mainstream rhythm or try to lead a balanced lifestyle.  The only hint of what is happening inside the flats is through the balconies; in the past they served as a gathering space for neighbours. Now they offer a glimpse of everyday life of the townhouses.

The townhouses are living a very different life from their original time. Full of opposites, intertwining extremes and intensities, it would be difficult to imagine New Orleans with different architecture. The beautiful facades of French Creole townhouses, decorated with plants and palm trees is what makes the city special.