We are a collaborativeinspired to unite natives of and newcomers to New Orleans in the design of anew model for development that shares the tools for locals to build thedestinies of their own neighborhoods. By working collectively in anexperiential learning process, we seek to demystify and democratize developmentfor ourselves and the city-at-large, offering our process as a transparent andaccessible model for replication. Our experiential method of “performingarchitecture” asks: “what are the sensibilities of place; where is the soul ofa home?”, “what is ownership; where are the commons?”, “what is community; whatinspires people to unite in action?”, and “how do we meet the needs of aneighborhood outside of a profit-driven framework?” These considerations guideus through the purchase, restoration, and transformation of a blightedstructure into a home base for creative action on issues of blight, gentrification,and housing affordability.