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The Plan Journal (TPJ) aims to “enrich the dialog between research and professional fields, in order to encourage both applicable new knowledge and intellectually driven modes of practice.”
Maurizio Sabini, Editor-in-Chief of The Plan Journal
Ed as background image for image sampling.
We are sharing some of the concepts and visions regarding resilient edges of The Plan Journal that impressed us. The first two articles are explorations and examinations. In the article “Integration of Habitat Grammars for Biodiverse and Resilient Coastal Structures,” the authors Keith Van de Riet, Jessene Aquino-Thomas and Pieter Conradie explain that “contemporary architectural ornament serves multiple purposes; articulated surfaces are no longer simply symbolic gesture but, in addition, contain material performance as expression of technological, environmental and other cultural factors.” In “An Eco-Leap Forward: Shifting Agriculture,” the authors Xinyu Xiao and Hai Anh Nguyen explain that “human activity has been changing the surface of the earth for several thousand years. In recent decades, the rate of change however was accelerated in the Yangtze River Delta, propelled by China’s rapid and continually chaotic process of urbanization and industrialization.”
The next two contributions consider San Francisco and Seattle. In the essay “Between Land and Sea: An Approach for Resilient Waterfront Development along the San Francisco Bay,” the author Gabriel Kaprielian explains that “the waterfront along the San Francisco Bay is facing a growing threat from sea-level rise. By the end of the century, a projected sea-level rise of 55 in. [140 cm] will affect an estimated 128 sq. mi. [331 km2] of urban development valued at $62 billion.” In “Groundedness as Risk: Adaptive Strategies for Ground Failures in Seattle,” the author Arthur Tai-Ming Leung shares that “‘Groundedness’ implies stability and permanence, but our reliance on the presumed fixity of the earth under our feet has led us to lose sight of its dynamism.”
Finally, we share some thoughts about 100 Resilient Cities.
>> We encourage you to browse The Plan Journal and explore its section dedicated to Resilient Edges for yourself.
In his editorial “An Urgent Task Ahead,” Maurizio Sabini, states:
It is critical that we see this call for resiliency not as a demand for defensive solutions to just fix a problem, but as an opportunity to re-imagine more adaptive environments and a more sustainable world. Henk Ovink, the Dutch special envoy on water affairs, has put it well: “Water is not an enemy. It was never an enemy. It is not a fight, because you will always lose. Resiliency actually means you are not only bouncing back after a disaster, you improve. You bounce back better.” 7 (159)
Notes
7 Henk Ovink, Special Envoy for International Water Affairs for The Netherlands (and former advisor for the Obama administration), as quoted in “What the Dutch Can Teach the World about Managing Floods,” CBC/Radio-Canada, The Sunday Edition with Michael Enright, September 3, 2017: http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thesundayedition/the-sunday-edition-september-3-...
>> The editorial can be found here in TPJ (in English)
In the article “Integration of Habitat Grammars for Biodiverse and Resilient Coastal Structures,” the authors Keith Van de Riet, Jessene Aquino-Thomas and Pieter Conradie explain that “parametric design has opened new frontiers in patterning and bio-inspired design.”
De Young Museum (Herzog & de Meuron) perforated copper panels.
Van de Riet et al. elaborate, “the manifestation of these bio-inspired materials can be compelling spatial narratives that speculate on the blending of nature and architecture.”
>> The article is available here in TPJ (in English)
In “An Eco-Leap Forward: Shifting Agriculture,” the authors Xinyu Xiao and Hai Anh Nguyen ask: “How can our cities eventually face haze, water pollution, soil contamination, and natural disasters caused by climate change”?
Collage of potential space for productive landscape. The top image represents abandoned industries, with the space for agriculture and fragmented agriculture in the village next to it; in the middle, there is an eco-infrastructure; the bottom image represents fishponds.
Xiao and Nguyen investigate “how to achieve an ecological resilience by enhancing biodiversity and by reviving and revising productive landscape.”
>> To learn more, check out the article here in TPJ (in English)
In the essay “Between Land and Sea: An Approach for Resilient Waterfront Development along the San Francisco Bay,” the author Gabriel Kaprielian explains that “2.1 million people and 660,000 homes are estimated to arrive by 2040, adding to the 7 million current Bay Area residents.”
San Francisco visions of the future.
Kaprielian further explains that “sea-level rise will affect the ecology of the San Francisco Bay, threatening to submerge the majority of existing tidal wetlands by mid-century. To combat sea-level rise, many are calling for increased shoreline protection, while others suggest the removal of urban development in areas at risk of inundation, allowing tidal wetlands to migrate to higher elevations.”
>> To learn more about Kaprielian’s proposed solution, read his article at here in TPJ (in English)
In “Groundedness as Risk: Adaptive Strategies for Ground Failures in Seattle,” the author Arthur Tai-Ming Leung explains that “urban development, predisposed to Engineering Resilience, has exacerbated disasters by attempting to fix and control ground without considering the recombinant and indeterminate systems of Ecosystem Resilience.”
Excerpt from the masterplan applying adaptive strategies over the next 100 years.
Leung continues to explain that “Seattle is the largest city in a region due for its “Next Big One” - a megathrust earthquake in the Cascadia Subduction Zone.”
>> The abstract can be found here in TPJ (in English)
In 2013, The Rockefeller Foundation launched 100 Resilient Cities (100RC) to assist cities in building their economic, physical and social resilience as they experience rapid growth. The members of the 100RC network of cities were provided with the resources necessary to develop a roadmap to resilience. Among the cities are San Francisco and Seattle.
Resilient San Francisco was organized with the public, private, and nonprofit sector, as well as with local stakeholders. It is a result of the dedication of 100RC Partners and philanthropic organizations. One of their actions outlined in San Francisco’s plan is a regional design competition to address seismic events and sea-level rise. The city’s goal is to have a disaster-resilient waterfront by 2040.
Seattle is striving to create:
more affordable housing in every part of this city and make meaningful progress for those experiencing homelessness; building true economic opportunity for young people and all workers.
Mayor Jenny A. Durkan is especially enthusiastic about Seattle’s revitalized resilient edge:
Just look at our waterfront- we are reconnecting our city with our heart: the Puget Sound. We are opening up the space we need to create a 20 acre park right at our front porch for everybody who calls Seattle home.
The original 100 Resilient Cities organization concluded on July 31, 2019, but on July 8, 2019, The Rockefeller Foundation announced an $8 million commitment to continue assisting the work of the 100RC network member cities. This new funding is to continue supporting resilience initiatives that started through the efforts of 100RC.
>> To learn more, visit: https://resilientcitiesnetwork.org
Why support + read TPJ?
The Plan Journal is intended to disseminate and promote innovative, thought-provoking, and relevant research, studies, and criticism related to architecture and urbanism. The journal grew out of an awareness that academia is all too often engaged in research that’s disconnected from the real-world challenges that face different professions, and that research is only possible for a small number of professional organizations, and, even then, with limited platforms for its dissemination. The overarching aim of TPJ is therefore to enrich the dialogue between researchers and professionals so as to foster both pertinent new knowledge and intellectually driven modes of practice.
How does it work + why does it matter?
Prospective contributors are encouraged to submit proposals or complete manuscripts to the Editor-in-Chief. Subject to positive feedback, proposals can then be developed into complete manuscripts and submitted for review, using the dedicated portal on the TPJ website.
After preliminary approval, manuscripts will be forwarded to suitably qualified people for commenting. TPJ is committed to following a rigorous double-blind peer review process using at least two reviewers. The Editor-in-Chief may also occasionally invite recognized academics, critics, or professionals (including members of the editorial board) to contribute to the journal without going through the peer review process, if warranted by the author’s reputation.
