A (New) Future for Miami Beach

A landscape architecture graduation work, dealing with drastic change in an urban area facing the risk of a major disruption, which calls for adaptive solutions for resilience. From adaptability theory two forces are derived that guide an analysis towards a solution for an urban environment challenged by sea level rise; the revolt, the force demanding a change, and the remember, the force of processes within a city, offering resistance. Miami Beach has a low treshold for the effects of rising sea level. The remember force here is focused on spatio-cultural dynamic, related to the identity of the water and the way water has shaped society. The revolt, in this case, is climate change. Along these two lines the analysis is directed to see how the two influence and conflict with each other. It touches upon how the urgency to resist and the current response to the risk may cause a detachment from the culture evolving around water. The posed solution is a coastal strategy on the Biscayne Bay, stressing the importance of integral long-term thinking through time, understanding history, current culture and accepting an uncertain trajectory by thinking in scenarios. The design combines use of mangroves as an adaptable coastal defense, with inclusive public spaces to create new cultural and ecological qualities along a densely built up, complex, privatized coastline. Architecture, Urbanism and Building Sciences | Landscape Architectur