Designing The Coastal City of The Future

Designing the Coastal City of the Future | WIRED
https://www.wired.com/brandlab/2019/09/designing-coastal-city-future/[9/28/2019 1:11:01 PM]

obin Seidel, an architect working to save Boston from

rising seawater, survived her first flood as a child. “I

was nine years old when the police knocked on our

door, telling us to evacuate because the Susquehanna
River was breaching its banks,” she recalls. “I was
scared. We had to quickly pack up and stay with my grandmother.”
Seidel, 33, was unharmed when the levees flooded in Kingston, Pennsylvania, in 1996. But
the emergency—caused by blizzards and extreme rain—motivated her to pursue a lifelong
passion: resilient design. “My interest in resilience began in childhood,” says Seidel, a
member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and climate resiliency architect at
Kleinfelder, a multidisciplinary firm focused on fighting climate change. “It ingrained in
me how weather impacts people. Now I’m motivated to design buildings that will stand the
test of time.”

In her new hometown of Boston, Seidel has plenty to keep her busy. The city is situated
along the Gulf of Maine, which is warming faster than 99 percent of the ocean due, in part,
to changing sea patterns from melting ice in Greenland and the Arctic Ocean. Coupled with
increased heat and precipitation, the rising sea level is threatening the low-lying city, much
of which was built on landfill over the past 300 years along a 50-square-mile harbor. In
2012, Boston narrowly avoided Hurricane Sandy, which pummeled neighboring New York
City, killing 44 residents there and causing $19 billion in damages and lost economic
activity. Then, in 2018, two nor’easters hit Boston at high tide, causing record-breaking
flooding. “It was a wake-up call,” says Nasser Brahim, a senior planner at Kleinfelder.
“Fifty years from now, Boston is on track to have significant flooding events once a month,
costing $1.4 billion annually. So, Sandy missed us, but we’ve been acting like it hit.”

To save the 685,000-person city, the local government is calling on architects to help
implement one of the most ambitious municipal resiliency plans in the United States:
Climate Ready Boston. Launched in 2016 by Mayor Martin J. Walsh, Climate Ready Boston
is an initiative to prepare the city for the long-term impacts of climate change. It aims to do
so by implementing measures that include increasing access to the city’s 47-mile waterfront
and simultaneously protecting it from major floods. First, officials commissioned local
scientists to continuously research how climate change will impact the area in the next 50
years. Then they collaborated with architects, engineers, and landscape architects to design
resilient solutions—ones that will withstand the natural elements—for the city’s five most
at-risk coastal communities (Downtown and North End, East Boston, Charlestown, South
Boston, and Dorchester). “Architects are at the forefront of climate adaptation,” says Chris
Cook, the chief of environment, energy, and open space in Boston. “They’re designing
public realms that not only protect communities but also give them great recreational
benefit. Without their help, none of this stuff gets built.”




The city’s first challenge is to preserve its existing neighborhoods and historic buildings.
Founded in 1630, Boston has 58 national historic landmarks, more than any other city in
the United States. To protect these buildings, architects are implementing immediate
solutions like deployable flood barriers, which can include aluminum flood planks that are

stacked in front of doors to keep out water. Architects are rewriting zoning laws so that
residents can make adaptations like moving mechanical systems from basements to roofs.
They’re also helping to identify strategic areas in neighborhoods that can be flood-proofed
to keep entire blocks from going underwater: For example, parks can be altered to act as
buffer zones, and new floodwalls can double as harbor walks and art installations.
“Architects are great at making existing neighborhoods more resilient because they think
holistically,” says Jay Wickersham, AIA, a lawyer in Boston. “It’s not just about keeping out
water. They also look at how to keep the city alive, addressing issues of equity by finding a
range of solutions that everyone can afford to ensure neighborhoods retain their vitality.”



In East Boston, Clippership Wharf is a new mixed-use project on 12 waterfront acres that
are vulnerable to flooding. To protect the site, architects raised the foundation 10 feet,
making it 13 feet above the current high-tide mark. They installed a movable slab beneath

the underground garage that can seep water and tied it to a drainage system, sump pumps,
and an emergency generator. They also added an elevated deck that can be both a
community spot and a safe haven during floods. “Resilient design is about inclusion,” says
Andrew Stebbins, AIA, a senior project manager for the Architectural Team. “At
Clippership, we created a high point for safety but also made it accessible for people from
the neighborhood to enter and enjoy views of the water. It was a great opportunity to create
a space that brings the community together.”
Throughout the city, architects are working with officials to combine all the individual
projects along the harbor into a comprehensive whole—a patchwork barrier of resiliency
known as the Resilient Boston Harbor Vision. Looking at a section of adjoining properties,
architects may suggest adding a concrete reinforced wall on a building to keep out water,
then link it with a neighboring park that acts as a natural barrier, and finally tie the park to
a new construction with resilient features. Overall, the idea is to ensure that people are

protected while bringing them closer to the city’s coastline on a daily basis. “Designing a
resilient city means you’re also creating a better and more functional place for
communities,” Seidel says. “I love living on the water. It’s what makes Boston great. So
we’re working to bring people closer to the harbor while also making it safe—ensuring a
brighter future for everyone.”






Architects are working with clients and community leaders to tackle key issues from rising
water levels and more frequent natural disasters to diverse housing needs and the
increased urgency for resilient design. Learn more at blueprintforbetter.org.
This story was produced by the WIRED Brand Lab for The American Institute of
Architects

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Designing the Coastal City of the Future | WIRED

https://www.wired.com/brandlab/2019/09/designing-coastal-city-future/[9/28/2019 1:11:01 PM]

obin Seidel, an architect working to save Boston from

https://www.wired.com/brandlab/2019/09/designing-coastal-city-future/[9/28/2019 1:11:01 PM]

was nine years old when the police knocked on our

https://www.wired.com/brandlab/2019/09/designing-coastal-city-future/[9/28/2019 1:11:01 PM]

https://www.wired.com/brandlab/2019/09/designing-coastal-city-future/[9/28/2019 1:11:01 PM]

https://www.wired.com/brandlab/2019/09/designing-coastal-city-future/[9/28/2019 1:11:01 PM]

https://www.wired.com/brandlab/2019/09/designing-coastal-city-future/[9/28/2019 1:11:01 PM]

https://www.wired.com/brandlab/2019/09/designing-coastal-city-future/[9/28/2019 1:11:01 PM]

https://www.wired.com/brandlab/2019/09/designing-coastal-city-future/[9/28/2019 1:11:01 PM]

https://www.wired.com/brandlab/2019/09/designing-coastal-city-future/[9/28/2019 1:11:01 PM]

https://www.wired.com/brandlab/2019/09/designing-coastal-city-future/[9/28/2019 1:11:01 PM]

https://www.wired.com/brandlab/2019/09/designing-coastal-city-future/[9/28/2019 1:11:01 PM]

https://www.wired.com/brandlab/2019/09/designing-coastal-city-future/[9/28/2019 1:11:01 PM]

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https://www.wired.com/brandlab/2019/09/designing-coastal-city-future/[9/28/2019 1:11:01 PM]

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