Structures of Coastal Resilience

“Structures of Coastal Resilience proposes a dissolution of the boundaries between engineering, architecture, and the sciences in favor of a climate-responsive environmental design approach, integrating broad-scale material transformation, micro-gradients, people, and marine life. Case studies of action and intervention are presented alongside thoughtful commentary exploring the designer’s expanded scope and agency within an increasingly dynamic coastal edge. A must-read!”–Kate Orff, SCAPE Landscape Architecture and Columbia University“The coast–the great meeting of land and water, familiar, strange, beautiful, frightening–a place we abuse and build over, yet where nature remains wild and uncontrolled. With vivid visualizations, Structures of Coastal Resilience captures these dichotomies and points us toward a new relationship with the coast, a necessity as rising seas threaten to overwhelm us.”–Michael Oppenheimer, Princeton University“A significant contribution to the body of research on coastal resilience…Structures of Coastal Resilience is an excellent collation of current design research and trends related to our coasts. And through historical analysis, ecological research, and an exploration of representation, the book suggests new ways of seeing and responding to the opportunities our coasts provide.”– “ASLA’s The Dirt”

Catherine Seavitt Nordenson is an Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture at CUNY’s City College of New York and principal of Catherine Seavitt Studio. Her research focuses on design adaptation to sea level rise in urban coastal environments and explores novel landscape restoration practices given the dynamics of climate change. Guy Nordenson is a professor at Princeton University and structural engineer in New York. He currently serves as a member of the New York City Panel on Climate Change and the board of the Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy. Julia Chapman is an architect in New York and a designer at Ennead Architects. She has worked on coastal resilience design projects beginning in 2009 and was the project manager for Structures of Coastal Resilience.