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How To Design A Resilient City For The Future | WIRED Brand Lab

BRANDED CONTENT | Produced by WIRED Brand Lab with American Institute of Architects | How can architectural design save cities and prepare us for the future under the threat of climate change? AIA architects in Boston discuss how they are working with community leaders and scientists to build more resilient cities.

Released on 09/25/2019


[gentle music]

[Narrator] When you think about cities in the U.S.

that are most vulnerable to hurricanes,

New Orleans, San Juan, or even New York come to mind,

but what about Boston,

situated in the Gulf of Maine,

one of the fast-warming bodies of water in the world.

Boston narrowly escaped the effects of Hurricane Sandy

because the storm hit at low tide.

This was a wake up call for city officials

that they had less time than they thought

to prepare Boston for a climate changed future.

So, who are among the first people they turned to

to help safeguard one of America's most historic cities

in a short amount of time?


There's a reason we've gone from calling it

climate change to a climate crisis,

and what we do today is extremely urgent

and extremely important.

With every additional building that goes in,

it's just one more chance to either do it right

or to do it wrong.

We need to do something now,

because the chances of something happening

are getting exponentially bigger every day.

Yes, we have to look at maps.

Yes, we have to look at scenarios,

but we gotta make sure that

we're protecting our people today.

First, it starts with extraordinary leadership

from Mayor Martin J. Walsh, but then you also have

to understand that architects are at the forefront

of not only climate mitigation but climate adaptation.

If cities don't survive, then we don't survive.

Frankly, architects and landscape architects and engineers,

they're gonna save the future.

[Narrator] Architects are working

with city officials, scientists,

and community leaders to design a more resilient city,

that includes protective measures for historic buildings.

In the past, we'd always just designed

for what is the current storm.

A lot of the work I do now is retrofit,

helping other old buildings or recently done buildings

think about how we can protect them for the next 50 years.

[Narrator] In East Boston, architects designed

Clippership Wharf, a new condominium and retail project

on 12 acres of flood-prone waterfront property.

One of the duties that I have as an architect

is to create a thoughtful

solution that's bigger than the sum of its parts.

[Narrator] First, they raised the foundation of the site

10 feet above the existing grade,

making it 13 feet above the current high tide mark.

Then, they raised the building mechanicals,

electrical rooms, and living spaces to the first floor.

Finally, they added an elevated deck than can act

as both a community spot and safe place for evacuation

above floodwaters, along with the 29,000 square foot

living coastline that's designed to evolve

with changing sea levels and act as a natural barrier.

So, those are solutions that aren't about

the 10 or 20 year solution.

We've got a 50 or 100 year solution.

[Narrator] Finally, architects are working with the city

to create a patchwork of solutions, like flood walls,

climate-resilient buildings, and parks that link

to create a comprehensive barrier and prepare the city

from future climate crisis.

You have to think 99.9% of the time

that your building is there,

it is not faced with some disaster,

but you need to build it for that 0.1%.

We take an oath to protect the health, safety,

and welfare of people.

Protecting against climate change very much falls

within that realm.

Climate's changing, and buildings and the environment

need to adapt.

As an architect, I'm trying to help that happen.