The development of Table 9 began with a survey of food deserts in the city of New Orleans 10 years after Hurricane Katrina. Incredible social capital has been mobilized to address this deficiency through the establishment of independent groceries, farmer’s markets, and community gardens in the years since. Table 9 inserts itself within this existing framework as a food incubator that reuses an existing box store in the neighborhood of the 9th Ward. The building is coupled with a number of community and economic programs designed to bring jobs, encourage entrepreneurship, and reinforce the gravity of the neighborhood community. The building’s program - kitchens, event hall, classrooms - is envisioned as a series of interconnected buildings that are wrapped by a porous screen which creates a soft border between the street and interior complex. Each threshold leads to a series of public courtyard spaces that are bordered by shaded paths with dappled light.