A Wet Place

This studio focuses on the historical transformations occurring in 21st-century cities. These transformations are multi-faceted, deep-rooted, and have an impact on all aspects of contemporary urban life. The emergence of interconnected global markets has produced new economic and political realities resulting in unprecedented forms of urban expansion and densification. Rapid infrastructural and technological innovations are reshaping how we design, construct, navigate, and communicate in cities. The proliferation of cultural diversity necessitates adequate architectural representation and the pursuit of new opportunities. Environmental factors are shifting our design understanding towards a more organic and symbiotic approach that can thrive only through the consideration and incorporation of nonhuman actors and agencies.

We explore the geological and pre-colonial history of New York City, and map how land-use changes have impacted the natural systems. Subsequently, we look at the concept of nature-based solutions (NbS), and develop a toolset of NbS to address flood risk, water availability and quality, and environmental degradations. We also develop, by including data from group 1, a land-use suitability map (from an environmental and risk perspective).