isles of mud (Landscape Urbanism)
Island Plan at 1:2500 scale
Glowing Urban Model
Featured on SuperArchitects and NextTopArchitects
Under the Instruction of Bradley Cantrell | Spring 2015
Jamaica Bay, New York, NY
In collaboration with Matthew Gindlesperger, BArch '10, MLA '16
—
Hurricane Sandy’s devastating effects in 2012 on Jamaica Bay have proliferated public discussion on the creation of infrastructures that would protect the islands from future storm surges. Since the occurrence of the natural disaster, coastal resilience has become a forefront issue for habitation along water edges. Since an estimate of 123.3 million people live along coastal cities around the world, inundation from storm surges, flood plains and global climate change raised the question on how to build, not only resilient urban forms, but also one that could potentially respond to the rising water.
Looking at Jamaica Bay as a site of intervention, its current 3-year dredge cycle was used as a hinge-point in the creation of islands that anticipates the projective growth of population and density. The current dredge processes employed by the US Army Corps of Engineers ships the dredge 15 miles outside of Jamaica Bay to be deposited onto the ocean floor.
Instead, the proposed strategy, suggests the local deposition of dredge within the Bay and be used for the creation of islands. The varying scales of water transit, which would serve as the islands’ infrastructure, determine the depths of dredging. Through the process of cut and fill, the subtraction that occurs underwater would inform the deposition build up of the existing island’s projective expansion. These expanded land areas occur predominantly perpendicular to the dredged channel, as it would face the strongest currents coming from the mouth of the Bay. Over time, groves of varying tree species will be planted to create a barrier forest that would serve as an armor from future surges.
Longitudinal Section across the proposed island design
Enlarged Sections:
Jamaica Bay island + dredge plan
Urban/Neighborhood Plan
Aerial Perspective of a proposed island
Perspective from the Barrier Forest
Perspective from the Urban Form
Proposed Plant Species
Grading Plan (Mid Review Development/Landform)
Proposed Details:
Presentation Models:
Conceptual Diagrams + Analyses:
Mid Review Conceptual Analysis + Proposal:
Isles of Mud Final Review Presentation, as featured on the Harvard GSD webpage
Final Review Presentation:
