New_Norris' photostream

These are photos as part of the University of Tennessee's ongoing EPA p3 project, The New Norris House.

In 1933 the Tennessee valley Authority constructed a model community, Norris, Tennessee, as part of the Norris Dam construction project. A key feature of this New Deal village was the Norris House, a series of home designs built as models for modern, efficient, and sustainable living. We propose, in light of the 75th anniversary of the Norris Project, to reinterpret the Norris paradigm and create a New Norris House - a sustainable home designed for the 21st century.

As with the original Norris designs, the home created in this project will utilize state of the art technologies and techniques. The structure will also use green and other sustainable materials in construction. Yet the challenge will go beyond the creation of a model home design. The structure will also have to address many of the community and legal constraints that currently deter sustainable home construction. The student design will have to be an affordable home buildable in the current city of Norris. To accomplish this, students will have to consult with community residents, work within local codes, and produce a structure that is compatible with the town’s National Register Historic District.