Hydrological Urbanization

by Andrew Madl (MLA II ’17) The city of Miami Beach finds itself at a complex intersection of natural phenomena and fluxes that choreograph and organize systematically to provide grounds for potential failure but also the potential to provide for the optimization/reinterpretation of the current urbanism occupation. These networks that govern the function and existence of Miami Beach present themselves not as negative entities, but rather as a framework for opportunity. The various concrete and abstract actions at play can be exposed, and, to a degree, exploited to provide the necessary theoretical framework for a new urbanism that maintains the current identity of Miami Beach while promoting a new explication of the projected future of the spatialization of the settlement. Rising ocean levels, increasing magnitude of storm events, and allocation for new infrastructure drive the re-tooling of the current grid typology and associated development standards. Factors associated with the deconstruction of oceanic systems and ecosystems such as pH levels, salinity levels/gradients, plant community patterns and landform typologies can be leveraged and reimagined to fit the needs of both the urban and native systems at play. These factors, when choreographed together, can produce a new city grid arrangement that allows for social and urban based occupations to intersect the needed performative operations of the vernacular landscape conditions associated with Miami Beach. Metrics based on flow rates/intensities can formulate a surface of multiplicity that plays to the governing and self-organization of an active urban surface that responds to characterizing open space and fully programmed space based on the requirements of the deconstructed parameters of the vernacular systems at play. Ultimately, this produces a stance on urbanism that provokes the need for development and policy to be based not purely upon economic systems but rather on the spatialization of the various simulated data-driven natures that govern the city.

The Overtown Commons Toolkit

Elena Clarke (MDes ’20), Malika Leiper (MUP ’19), Chandra Rouse (MUP ’19)

The Overtown Commons Toolkit is a multi-pronged, multi-phased social and spatial strategy for the residents Overtown, Miami. It addresses the historic and contemporary effects of racism on the built environment and the spatial implications of imposed racialized urban policies in neighborhoods throughout the country. The design proposal works by presenting residents with a kit of parts (positive pathways + civic stations) that can be used to transform streetscapes and promote connectivity, while a workforce development program is built through youth civic engagement and job-training using a model of collective action. Informed by interviews with residents of Overtown, both past and present, young and old, our proposal responds to the following questions: How do we respect the spatial agency of residents and support the creation of a civic commons network as political power building?—and—What becomes possible when we see cities’ civic assets as a single network? Our aim is to provide a grounded and sustainable framework for positive change that fosters civic engagement, cultural sustainability, and inclusive economic development for the future of Overtown and its residents.

Community Equity Fund

Laura Lopez (MUP ’19), Daniel Padilla (MUP ’19), Eduardo Pelaez (MDes ’19)

Due to its central location, Overtown, Miami’s oldest historically black neighborhood, is in the crosshairs of encroaching real estate development, and with it, impending gentrification and displacement. Gentrification, at its core, points at an imbalance of power between private actors and communities, where the private developers have the ability to dictate what the “highest and best use” is for a space at the expense of people who do not have the legal or financial recourse to dictate their own visions for the future of their communities. Our hypothesis is that long term economic resiliency is vital to curb the effects gentrification and that building equity is akin to creating agency to decide on the future of a community. With this in mind, we devised a development strategy that would transform today’s exclusionary development threats into opportunities for future equity building for Overtown residents. A Community Equity Fund is a collectively-managed, collectively-owned equity fund created through the capture of real estate development profits with the purpose of mitigating the effects of gentrification by providing access to capital to residents affected by escalating land values. It is a redistributive financial mechanism that would allow planning bodies or redevelopment agencies to provide building incentives to developers, in the form of additional square footage, in exchange for a share of the profits, which will, in turn, be pooled into a Community Equity Fund. This fund will be distributed among community members living on properties whose values will be directly affected by incoming development projects.

emPOWER Overtown

Catherine McCandless (MUP ’19) and Naomi Woods (MDes ’19)

Our project proposes a comprehensive solution to some of Overtown, Miami’s most pressing challenges relating to the impacts of climate change. This solution involves the construction of either a single community solar array or a series of community solar installations in or near Overtown that would allow for low-income residents to subscribe to the system and receive energy credits on their monthly utility bill.

The community solar array would be connected to a microgrid to allow for resilient back-up electricity, which is crucial given that intense hurricanes will become more frequent as a result of climate change and low-income communities are often the last to have their power restored.

Additionally, the project would address rising temperatures in Miami and the consequent increase in electricity costs in Overtown; provide access to clean energy for Overtown residents; increase resilience of energy infrastructure for the general welfare of Overtown residents; promote community stability in Overtown through affordable and reliable energy; and empower Overtown residents through workforce development opportunities in solar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This project is made possible through support from The Knight Foundation.

Democratizing Tech: A Co-Operative for Overtown, Miami

Sidra Fatima (MUP ’19) and Stefano Trevisan (MUP ’19)

Our project explored the all-too-familiar narrative of how modern cities grapple with the complex evolution of economies and work patterns in an increasingly tech-centric world. We sought to shift the narrative from one of a ‘vulnerable’ community threatened by big tech to one of two actors mutually benefitting and growing inclusively, taking advantage of the unique qualities each has to offer. Toward this end, we proposed a co-operative that would subvert the typical pattern of gentrification by supporting the empowerment of residents and local entrepreneurs.

This project explores the potential of a co-operative that would link tech workers in the ‘gig’ economy to local organizations’ needs. By providing critical support services, these workers fill a necessary gap; by creating a collective that supports wealth creation, co-op workers can benefit from efficiencies of scale and their proximity to a booming tech scene. By housing the array of services these gig economy workers provide, as well as the workers themselves, we can create a one-stop-shop for all the organizational needs described previously. The goal is to provide the list of gap services these organizations face while creating an environment for Overtown residents to learn new skills and develop career pathways. This group can be incubated by competing first in their own backyard, contracting to provide services to key anchors in the community, then broadening their scope to compete in the open market.

Types in the Park

Boxia Wang (MLA I ’17)

As sea level rise and storm events continue to threaten the ecological and cultural environment of Miami Beach, this project seeks a strategy to restore the resilience of its landscape while still maintaining the city’s vitality.

The overall strategy is to elevate part of urban fringe along the bay, as “waterproof” zones for development of tourist resort while the area closer to the bay are reserved for ecological adaptation uses, serving as a barrier and protector for the inland zones.

Miami Beach used to be a mangrove swamp adapted to the local environment. In order to restore its ecological capacity, studies are conducted to identify four mangrove communities with different ability to handle sea level rise. Accordingly, four different types of island landforms are designed to each accommodate a particular mangrove community. Finally, these mangrove islands are organized and distributed within the radial grid system, creating layers of protection for the coastline.

Biscayne Barnacles

Sonny Meng Qi Xu (MLA I AP/MArch II ’18)

The project proposes an urban design strategy for Miami in which the landforms, building forms and public spaces work together and perform systematically to create a more coastal resilient city. In response to rising sea-level and storm events, the formations of the ground and the building envelopes are shaped by an ecological understanding, social consciousness and by applying heliomorphism. Through analyzing the form, function and aggregation of the barnacle, I aim to mimic how the successful and abundant sea creature found in the tidal zone, holds and stores water. The clustering of the mounds create platforms for the buildings and public spaces for the people. The amalgamation of the building forms allow for the hybridization of typologies. The pools and courtyards collect and store rain and sea water in response to rising sea level and storm event. The project aims to build a more resilient and ecologically aware Miami shoreline, meanwhile, create a new cultural identity and urban realm for the city.

Paradise in Process

Jessy Yang (MAUD ’17)

This project sees the issue of imminent sea level rise and the real estate boom in Miami Beach as opportunities to reshape the future collective image of the city along Biscayne Bay.

The project deploys a new grid framework along the city’s west coast that opens up access to the waterfront from the existing set of privatized superblocks, crenelates a resilient waterfront to protect from future storm surges, and stages the future developments of the city through a consistent formal language, one informed by sea rise adaptation and solar performance.

Climate 2050 Justice Divestment Project

Sam Matthew (MDes ’18)

Inspired by the Million Dollar Block project, this project uses publicly available data from the Florida Department of Corrections, to map i) the address of every person released from prison into Miami Dade since 1999, and ii) the amount of money the state has spent to incarcerate each individual.

The maps reveal profound social and racial inequalities in Miami. The state has spent millions of dollars incarcerating people who return to the poorest communities in the city. In Overtown, a predominantly African American neighborhood, Florida has “invested” over 10 million dollars incarcerating individuals who live within a single block.

It also reveals how concerns about criminal justice and inequality exacerbate the threat of climate change. To resist these dangers, the project advocates for a strategy of Retreat, Protect and Reinvest:

Retreat: not only is mass incarceration detrimental to Miami, but Miami is detrimental to mass incarceration. Seven prisons and detention centers in Miami Dade County are likely to flood thanks to sea level rise, providing an opportunity to close facilities.

Protect: inclusive planning provisions for existing homeless shelters, half way housing and affordable housing is required to protect high ground sites with high numbers of formerly incarcerated people from “climate gentrification.”

Reinvest: a restorative justice policy would involved a spatial policy heavily in community networks, faith groups, restorative justice courts, transformative justice programs and alternative sentencing programs.

Living Landforms

Ziwei Zhang (MLA I ’17)

As sea levels rise, Miami must adopt new urban models that embrace the incoming waters. In the coming decades, new construction of seawalls, breakwaters, and other coastal defense systems must be coupled with green infrastructure to maximize resilience and local ecological assets.

This project integrates landform as a new kind of infrastructure that simultaneously informs the city’s future urban block structure. New landforms shaped by flow dynamics and habitat formation provide a landscape structure to avert seawater, absorb tidal water, and hold stormwater. Further inland, a combination of sunken inner courtyards, elevated roads, and elevated buildings create a new drainage system that augments existing engineered solutions and streamlines public to private thresholds.