article_NPR

This recent interview by NPR discusses how Sea Level Rise will not treat all coastal cities equally.  The eastern sea-board from North Carolina to Boston is in a more precarious location than the rest of the American East Coast.  American cities like Norfolk are now beginning to consider protection methods, while the UK and the Netherlands have been taking action for the past decade.

article_hurricane sandy

This article from the Huffington Post discusses recent natural disasters as being systemically caused by global warming.

images_hurricane sandy

Looking at the updates from Hurricane Sandy in New York City, the photographs appear surreal.  Sea Level rise happened in real time and its aftermath to urban life is not yet clear.  This type of flooding seems out of place amongst the Manhattan skyline.  The New York Times has infographics, maps, and images, to depict infrastructure failure and water inundation.  Some of its imagery mimics that of a proposal on this blog from ARO in 2008.

 NYTimes Map 10/30/12

ARO Map 2008

 

NYTimes Photo 10/30/12

 ARO Rendering 2008

Climate Change and Cities

After a long hiatus, and a submitted thesis, I quickly wanted to post this article relevant to climate change. This NPR Fresh Air interview talks about how the temperatures in the past 30 years have increased, and what a more moist planet means. Author Heidi Cullen further discusses how this will deeply impact our cities and infrastructure. She specifies examples of New York, Miami, and Alaska. Very insightful and easy to understand, I highly recommend this interview.

image_"floodhouse"

Disaster-proof house designed by the Powerhouse Company. "Its outer walls are solid and round, so waves can thrust around the house gracefully." I am not sure how well this would work. However, it is one of the most unusual forms I have seen for dealing with this. For more info and photos, click here.

image_art installation

Rising sea levels mapped on existing buildings in Bristol, England, to be produce by Chris Bodle for his Watermarks project. For more information, click here.

image_dutch water purification plant

A Water Purification Plant built in Rotterdam, Holland, in 1973-1977 by Wim Quist Wintermans Architekten, b.v. It symbolically uses a form of water drops. For more information, and other interesting water projects visit h2olland.