The Resilient Gradient: Layered Protection Strategies for Coastal Cities

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The Resilient Gradient: Layered Protection Strategies for Coastal Cities

Submitted to the Department of Architecture in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Architecture at the Wentworth Institute of Technology, April 2021

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title: The Resilient Gradient: Layered Protection Strategies for Coastal Cities

creator: Marcus Delpe

subject: Coastal changes; Coastal engineering; Flood damage prevention; Urban planning, New York (State), New York

description: A majority of the world’s greatest cities lie precariously close to sea level, with Manhattan assuming a spot in the top three highest-risk cities to experience coastal flooding in the US. Despite these cities’ vital roles as productive engines– generating economies, allowing businesses to flourish, and inspiring new technologies– they arealso home to millions of people. Inhabitants continue to depend on these urban systems’ socioeconomic, political, and physical conditions as rapid urbanization continues to pose expansion issues. These elements are at risk of destruction due to the rigid, inelastic barrier built between land and water. A new coastal edge must consider the restoration of historical edge conditions to form a more permeable coast once again. The use of resilient layers woveninto the urban fabric will refute the failure of one-fix engineering solutions used in the past. Three zones: flood, defend, and absorb, use hard and soft defense strategies to produce a gradient along the city coast that encourages connectivity and social resilience. This thesis explores a more porous threshold that will inspirean appreciation of water, an idea rooted in archaic portraits of Venice’s acqua alta, or modern concepts of resilience planningin the Netherlands. The solution is multidisciplinary, synthesizing architecture, urban planning, and landscape to form coastalresilience’s true meaning.

publisher: The Douglas D. Schumann Library and Learning Commons, Wentworth Institute of Technology

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date: 2021

type: Thesis

format: .pdf

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language: eng

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rights: https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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