+MOSQUITO BAR MYSTIQUE+ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >TROPIQUE-MAGIQUE< +METAPHYSIQUE+ ^^^^^^^^^^ >high summer on the eighteenth century +INDIAN MOUND INDIGO PLANTATION+ (bayou barataria at crown point) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >of jean baptiste valentin degruy< and wife elizabeth sabine de montaut de montberaud +WAS SHEAR HELL+ ^^^^^^^^^^^ >(heat, humidity, fear of disease... +ALLIGATORS-SNAKES+ +MOSQUITOS-SCORPIONS+ >sanitary horrors< +TROPICAL CYCLONES+ >and the spread of slave uprising<) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ +CLEARING PALMETTO & CANE+ (from raw aboriginal jungle) >to plant indigo along the bayou was a +VAST-TOUGH ROOT SYSTEMS+ >difficult, complex and tortuous task. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ +BURNING AND FREEZING+ >the sad plight of the african workers +INDIGO=DEATHLY PROCESS+ >is, of course, for our conscience a +MORAL BLIGHT FOREVER+ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ +SAVING AESTHETIC GRACES+ (beauty has its reasons) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ (NATURE WAS MORE POWERFUL) >was the aesthetics found in the organic world of their primal tropic milieu. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^. +ARCHITECTURE-ANIMALS+ >carolina parrots< ^^^^^^^^^ (GRUE=GRUY) >flamingos/egrets< +PLANTS-ARTS-CRAFTS+ >some of it absorbed from their +AFRICAN PEOPLE+ ^^^^^^^^^^ +GRUY CONSTRUCTION TALENT+ >we must remember the creativity of jean baptiste and his huge crafts +CABIN & CART PREFAB+ >plantation (african) operation. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ +FRENCH-AFRICAN CULTURE+ >betsy swanson has written about the intimacy of elizbeth's de la croix's son from her previous marriage >(BERNARD DUSSEAU (de la croix) >WAS THE FATHER) >with his aged slaves later and their sharing a household >in the nola vieux carre< ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ +THOMAS JEFFERSON SYNDROME+ >we have discussed strong french/african synergy in st. charles & st. john parishes (pierre degruy's plantation was near +RACIAL-CULTURAL SYNTHESIS+ >the bonnet carre spillway) and the advent of the rillieux, glapion, laveau, dumas, dumany etc. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ +EDGAR DEGAS HAD MANY EXOTIC+ >french tropic syndrome< +TALES UPON HIS RETURN TO PARIS+ >(gauguin and co. fascinated)< ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ +AMALIE CAVAROC STAIGG+ (french creole "memere") >grew up on the cavaroc plantation and lived in our houshold for a while plus +CREOLE VISIONARY+ >hosting my summer covington visits ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ +PASSED ON TO ME THE MAGIC OF+ >mosquito bars/oil hurricane lamps/mackey's pine oil/ +PRIMAL-BASIC+ >creole food/palmetto fans/indian crafts >+ORGANIC PLANTATION LIFE+< ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ +FRANCOIS MIGNON'S "MEMOS"+ >won my heart w/ their vivid discription of organic plantation living that was +S.D.S.U., 1969-1996+ >important to my environmental design +ARCHITECTURAL TEACHING OF+ +WISE BUILDING METHODS+ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ +FOUR POINTS OF MY PROGRAM+ >the whole earth catalog became my bible at sdsu during those vital +ECOLOGY-ECONOMY+ +HEALTH+ +SOCIAL CONCERNS+ >years of teaching architecture >that would grace the land< ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ +RAMMED EARTH WALLS+ >were part of the technology i taught that would have been welcome on +DEGRUY PLANTATIONS+ >with wide overhangs protecting from intense tropicsl rains (and searing sunshine) ^^^^^^^^^^^^ >(rammed earth superior to the earlier clay between posts) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ +MAGNY FOUCHARD CHATEAU+ >the ancient original degruy chateau at magny fouchard in the days of the +14TH-16TH CENT.+ villeneuve, verloin and st. simon ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ +WAS VERY PRIMAL ORGANIC LIVING+ vast forest of the "orient" +SIMILAR TO THE BARATARIA LOCUS+ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >but without the african dimension< +SILKS-WIGS-SATENS+ +MENS HIGH HEELS+ and +CERAMIC CHAMBER POTS+ >were the residue of civilization< ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ gene ray, san diego, california