AT WATER'S EDGE: IMAGINING FUTURES ON SHIFTING GROUND

Abstract

This thesis investigates architectural strategies for engaging flood-prone landscapes through coexistence rather than control. As climate change disproportionately impacts vulnerable communities, the project emphasizes the need for culturally responsive and collaborative approaches to design. Combining international precedents with physical modeling experiments, it examines structural and spatial responses to unstable ground and fluctuating water levels. The design proposal develops a research and education campus in the wetlands of East New Orleans, using elevated structures and low-impact infrastructure to support environmental stewardship, observation, and learning. Together, these strategies form a flexible framework that encourages architects to ask better questions, work with affected communities, and design more responsibly for the shifting conditions at water’s edge.