UVA School of Architecture Joins 2025 Envision Resilience Midcoast Maine Challenge
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Marking its fifth year, the Envision Resilience Challenge continues its work in Maine, inviting undergraduate and graduate design teams to engage with local community advisors and artists to address climate challenges and opportunities shaping Midcoast communities. We are excited to announce that the University of Virginia School of Architecture's C.L. Bohannon and Michael Luegering and students in their advanced research studio will be participating in the program. Building on UVA's prior contributions to the 2023 and 2024 Challenges, led by Luegering, this year's studio team will join an innovative initiative aimed at exploring resilience strategies for Bath and Harpswell, Maine.
BATH, Maine (June 25, 2025)—Envision Resilience will bring its place-based, multi-university design studio to Bath and Harpswell, Maine, this fall, pairing university students with community leaders to develop creative ideas for communities facing rising sea levels and challenges related to housing, stormwater management and coastal infrastructure, habitats and ecology.
Participants in the 2025 Envision Resilience Midcoast Maine Challenge include local partners University of Maine at Augusta’s architecture program led by Patrick Hansford and Maine College of Art & Design (MECA&D) led by Addy Smith-Reiman.
Rounding out the cohort is Northeastern University College of Arts, Media and Design (CAMD) led by Sara Jensen Carr, PhD and Michelle Laboy; University of Virginia School of Architecture led by Michael Luegering and C.L. Bohannon, PhD; and University of Massachusetts Amherst Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning led by Samantha Solano. Kicking off the 2025 design studio, faculty leads were onsite in Bath and Harpswell earlier this month for a three-day workshop with community partners from city planning, housing and sustainability offices, local nonprofits and land trusts, conservation committees and individual artists, designers and landscape architects.
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| (left–right) C.L. Bohannon and Michael Luegering, faculty in the Department of Landscape Architecture will teach an advanced research studio this fall as part of the 2025 Envision Resilience Midcoast Maine Challenge. | |
“The work of Envision Resilience is rooted in thoughtful student and community partnerships—and the depth and breadth of design thinking, art and storytelling outcomes of our program is a direct reflection of those relationships.”
—Claire Martin, Executive Director, Envision Resilience
The faculty workshop set the groundwork for the fall semester design studio, during which multidisciplinary student teams from these leading institutions will continue the engagement with the coastal towns of Bath and Harpswell, Maine. Their task will be to research, identify and propose innovative, community-driven designs that address climate challenges and strengthen local resilience while celebrating the region’s maritime heritage and natural beauty.
“Partnering with Envision Resilience offers an extraordinary opportunity to elevate Bath’s Resilient Bath plan by bringing in fresh academic perspectives and design innovation,” said Rod Melanson, director of sustainability and environment for the City of Bath. “Their multidisciplinary student teams will help us reimagine coastal resilience, green infrastructure and community-led solutions that are tailored to our city’s unique maritime heritage and climate challenges. Our community leaders are very excited to be engaged in this program and we look forward to working together to translate cutting‑edge ideas into practical, community-driven action.”
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| Views from the shore of the Kennebec River and Front Street, in Bath, Maine. Photos: Corey Templeton (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 ) Source: Flickr | |
Building on Envision Resilience’s mission to foster the next generation of planners, leaders and design professionals, the 2025 program places an emphasis on supporting local industries, arts and innovation. Students and faculty will collaborate with regional, city and town stakeholders, as well as artists, fisherman and local business owners, to consider design solutions that balance ecological protection, resilient infrastructure, economic vitality and affordable housing. Special focus will also be given to professional development, preparing participants to work collaboratively across disciplines and fields.
The Envision Resilience Challenge is currently in phase one of its programming, building relationships with key community partners and connecting them to faculty leads. Phase two begins in August and runs through the fall semester, punctuated with student site visits to Bath and Harpswell, a speaker series and virtual mid-term and final jury reviews. Phase three begins in January 2026 with the rolling out of the final student design proposals to the community through exhibitions, public art and continued community programming. Envision Resilience will work with Portland-based artist and curator Brian Smith—a 2020 MFA graduate of MECA&D who works in sculpture, painting and drawing—for a second year to showcase the design work to the communities through a series of exhibitions and public art programming.
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Envision Resilience works to advance innovative city planning and design in the face of climate change through student and community partnerships. By connecting current and future professionals working across disciplines, the organization creates opportunities for communities to reimagine climate challenges and inspire resilient solutions. Envision Resilience, originally developed by Remain, is part of the philanthropic organizations and initiatives created and funded by Eric and Wendy Schmidt to work toward a healthy, resilient, secure world for all.
Contact:
Claire Williams
communications@envisionresilience.org
317-989-8140
