The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development held a competition for ten expert teams to envision solutions to increase resilience across the Sandy-affected region. The team – led by Gina Ford and Brie Hensold while principals at Sasaki – was drawn to the New Jersey Shore as a study area, both for its significance as a cultural landscape and a powerful contributor to the state’s economy.
Our regional framework for the New Jersey Shore developed resiliency strategies for a series of typical coastal landscapes, including the tourist havens of the barrier beaches, the working waterfront’s of the inland bays and the diverse communities of the headlands. Our solutions integrated the strong cultural identity and historic use of the landscapes with new ideas for increased ecological function.
Ecologically, the Beach is a dynamic and constantly shifting edge. Yet, many communities invest significant effort in armoring the beach, often at the expense of its ecological health. Culturally, the Beach is a temporal destination for various populations—a place of recreation, relaxation, food, escape, games, and social interaction. To bring greater resilience, ecological health and social interaction to the Shore, our project re-imagined a series of love affairs—where the marriage of culture and ecology would catalyze unexpected results. Using geology typologically, we articulated three coastal conditions that each had a unique character, form, environmental condition and flood risk. These served as tools to illustrate regional challenges and lenses with which to select case study communities.
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