You have to see this town to understand this building,” Martha Murphy explains, sitting on the oversized front porch of the 39571 Project, the new SHoP architects–designed community building that bears the zip code of Pass Christian (despite its technically being in De Lisle), Mississippi. The design is intended to serve the entire “four corners” community. “We didn’t have anything after Katrina—everything was just washed away,” Murphy says. “We wanted this building to be a gathering place, a place that would bring everyone together. A place where we could see each other, say hello, and just simply check in with each other.”

Even in late July of 2006—nearly a year after Hurricane Katrina hit—the wanton damage to Pass Christian and the surrounding area, commonly referred to as “four corners,” is shocking. What was once a small, thriving Mississippi coastal community now resembles something closer to a tree fort that’s been pummeled by the neighborhood bully: Broken branches lie scattered across the landscape and bits of once-majestic mansions sit rotting along the Gulf Coast. With nearly every architectural trace of humanity wiped clean or rendered useless, all that residents of this town and its surrounding area were left with was each other—one big extended family that has rallied together to bring “the Pass”—as the town is often called—back from the brink. Murphy, who was born and raised in Arkansas but spent a lot of time in the Pass growing up, is the driving force behind the recently opened SHoP Architects–designed community building, and she exudes a sort of filial love for the town and its populace.

As one of the first pieces of new construction in the area since Katrina, SHoP’s 11,500-square-foot low-lying wood, concrete, and steel complex may be the harbinger of a new architectural vernacular poised to command the region—now that insurance monies have finally begun to trickle in. But it can do more than act as an architectural centerpiece; it can serve as a role model for how a structure might strengthen its host community.

As construction forges on, Murphy expounds on that idea in the muggy Mississippi air: “We realize that buildings don’t necessarily define us. They are not what make up our community,” she says, looking out on the large, wild “front yard” that makes the building feel more like a prairie-style home than the sterile, civic architecture one expects of community centers. “What buildings do is help to contain our emotions, bring them in, and bring them together. After what happened here, there was so much chaos, so much filth. We needed a building that would give us some order—some cleanliness.”

Scaling the roof directly above Murphy in the soon-to-be pouring rain is wiry 29-year-old Reese Campbell from SHoP. Dressed in a T-shirt and jeans, Campbell has flown in for a few days with Bill Sharples, one of the firm’s founding partners, to monitor the construction progress. The team initially aimed for an August 29, 2006 opening, precisely one year after Katrina hit. As Sharples calmly walks visitors through the structure, explaining the project’s objectives, Campbell is frantically investigating the seams and sutures. Swinging down from the roof, he plops down next to Murphy and interjects: “Architecture is all about breaking a building down to its simplest components. Once you can do that, you can do the most complicated piece of architecture.”