This research project examines the coastal resilience of a waterfront park in New York City five years after opening. The study focused on understanding how elements of the design and construction of Hunter’s Point South Waterfront Park phase 1 contributed to a high level of resilience during and after Hurricane Sandy, especially related to coastal flooding, storm surge, and heavy rains. In addition, the study generated metrics in order to understand the social and economic benefits of the park. Team members utilized drone-captured still photography and video taken over the course of a day, on-site hand tabulated data, interviews, storm surge models, and hydrodynamic modeling to analyze the site and usage. Part of the investigation was conducted with researchers from Penn State University and funded by the Landscape Architecture Foundation’s Landscape Performance Series through a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Arts Works grant. Funding also came from the Patrick T. Curran Fellowship. The project continues SWA’s work on post-occupancy assessment for the fifth year.
RESEARCH TEAM
Anya Domlesky and Emily Schlickman, XL research and innovation Lab at SWA
Tom Balsley, Brian Staresnick, SWA/Balsley
Bill Tatham and Elvis Wong, SWA
Lisa Du Russel and Aastha Singh, The Penn State University Stuckeman School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture
THANKS TO
Heather Whitlow and Megan Barnes, the Landscape Architecture Foundation
Michael Koontz, NYC Department of Parks & Recreation
Lee Lim, Weiss/Manfredi
Sean Baker, Galvin Brothers
Brigid Keating, NYC Economic Development Corporation
Andrew Watkins, SWA
FEATURED
The Journal of Climate Resilience and Climate Justice
“Learning from Disaster: What Two Hurricanes Reveal about Ways to Design Public Space as Flood Infrastructure”
Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA)
Great Places Award-Place Research. “Double Duty Parks: Two Studies on the Performance of Social Spaces as Resilient Flood Infrastructure”
Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA) Conference
“Evaluating the Success of Public Space as Flood Infrastructure: An Analysis of Resilience in Two Parks Post-Hurricane.”
International Federation of Landscape Architects (IFLA) Conference
“Learning from Disaster: What Two Hurricanes Reveal About Designing Public Space as Flood Infrastructure”
Designing Landscape Architectural Education
“Adapting Practice for the Future of Landscape-driven Urban Design”
Landscape Architecture Magazine
“Live and Learn”
Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) Conference
“Designed to Flood: Evaluating the Resilience of Waterfront Parks”
ASLA Annual Meeting
“Drones 2.0: Exploring Nascent Design Applications for Unmanned Aerial Systems”