Root

by  Adria Boynton (MDes ’16)

The city of Miami Beach experiences frequent flooding events due to sea level rise, heavy rains, and porous limestone that allows water to bubble up from underground.

What if Miami Beach specified rhizomatous, salt-tolerant grasses as a form of urban adaptation? Encouraging pervious surfaces would increase water absorption rates despite tourism-related disturbances. And by taking cues from Everglades’ sawgrass, plant species with dependable root mass could help alleviate localized flooding.