Overview
In an urban design studio, I helped create a 2070 climate resiliency master plan and set of zoning codes for Broward County, Florida to protect coastal communities and create new neighborhood typologies adapted to a state of constant change.
Activitiesplanning strategy
spatial analysis
spatial design
photography
design visualization
motion graphics
TeamLaura Johnson, Santiago Fernandez-Reyes, Catie Ferrara, Phillip Hu, Holly Jacobson, Xinyi Ma
Date2022
LocationSouth Florida
StudioMIT School of Architecture & Planning
Challenge
Storms, flooding, and sea level rise increasingly threaten urbanism in South Florida. The escalating frequency and intensity of rain and a rising water table compound with development patterns that continue to operate as if the ground can be kept dry forever—creating a recipe for disaster. However, the state government has made the term “climate change” all but illegal, laying the burden of long-range resiliency planning to individual cities and counties.
Coding for Flux
In 2015, our urban design studio at MIT partnered with Broward County and Palm Beach County planning departments to develop strategies to better adapt to an inevitably wetter future using tools that they already possess, especially that of the zoning code. I worked on the team that led the Broward County plan.
The bulk of my work focused on creating dynamic landscape models that informed my team’s “flux zone” adaptation strategy and unlocked a framework for each of us to design tailored solutions for different urban conditions that could fit seamlessly together in a comprehensive plan.
Inland Sea Transition
For my individual site work, I focused on shifting the conversation around Broward County’s low-lying coastal neighborhoods—its first line of exposure to extreme weather events—from floods threatening dry property to one that embraces water and ecosystem as opportunities for protection and tourism, creating a new type of Floridian experience adapted to the area’s new role as a coastal buffer.