Cooper-Hewitt Announces People’s Choice Award-Winner

Starting this month, the Katrina Cottage wll be available at Lowe's.

Mairi Beautyman -- Interior Design, 11/7/2006

On October 18, the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum awarded Marianne Cusato with its first ever People's Design Award. Cusato is recognized for the Katrina Cottage, a prefab structure designed to help Gulf Coast residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

Thousands of people logged on to the Cooper-Hewitt Web site to cast their vote. The award was bestowed during the New York museum’s seventh annual National Design Awards gala in New York.

Cusato, principal of New York-based architecture firm Cusato Associates and founder of Cusato Cottages, conceived the Katrina Cottage as a permanent house that could replace temporary FEMA trailers. Architect and planner Andrés Duany led the development process. The easily-assembled prefab, designed to hold up to 140-mph winds, is constructed of wood or steel framing and is finished with Hardie Board cement siding and a metal roof.

Starting this month, the public will be able to purchase kit versions of four Katrina Cottage designs from retail chain Lowe's.

"The Katrina Cottage is a dignified alternative to conventional temporary housing," says 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."