Project Details

Edge Strategies

Semester project

As the first line of defense, the strategy for the coastal edge includes the adaptation of coastal ecosystems to a more saline, warmer environment by the planting of mangroves. To provide New Orleans with long-term protection from storms and sea-level rise, the city edge is reimagined as the second line of defense. It is assumed that by 2050, most buildings will be clustered in areas of the city that have an elevation above sea level and those that remain in low-lying areas will be adapted to periodic floods. A super-levee structure on the side of New Orleans adjacent to Lake Pontchartrain will protect the city from most catastrophic storm events. Storm water will be collected in hydric parks and channels and pumped in both the direction of the lake as well as to the river channel. This new pumping plan will allow the river edge to become a microcosm of the current delta ecosystem, with pools of varying salinity housing a gradient of plant and animal species. Small coastal communities will be able to continue historic inhabitation patterns by adapting housing typologies to a watery, dynamic environment. These fishing communities will be clustered behind the protection of barrier islands and natural levees and boating will be the primary mode of transportation in these areas. The mangroves will provide a new habitat to many species of fish and birds, which will aid in sustaining small commercial fishing operations in the area.