💡 Designing for tomorrow's climate, today
By acknowledging hard truths and embracing bold solutions, we can mitigate the harmful effects of climate change and thrive—whatever the future brings.
Today’s post is by Vincenza Perla, my Building Hope podcast co-host. In May, she received her Master of Architecture degree from the University of Maryland, and won a special Director’s Award for her thesis project. I’ve had the pleasure of working with Vincenza since fall, 2021, first as her professor and then, with the podcast, as a collaborator. While we worked on the podcast, she was researching and designing her thesis. Since our time together was often limited, I had only hints about her project. When she presented it in May, I was blown away—both by the quality of her work and her confident parrying of the reviewers’ questions and concerns. Above all, I was impressed by her clear-eyed bravery in tackling a difficult topic with such fierce commitment. She makes me hopeful.
Even a few weeks since my thesis presentation has passed, I am still mystified about the presentation, or dare I say defense, conversation. I really did not see my thesis as a “violent” resolution to a “depressing” problem throughout the entire process. Reflecting back, I can start to see how the jury made up of professionals so used to designing and working in the “real world” are less familiar with the confronting the immediacy of climate change that my thesis, “Suspended Culture: Agritecture for a Contemporary Climate,” explores.
The thesis process started with asking a few key questions. Can the built environment change attitudes towards the natural landscape? How do buildings address an ever-changing ecosystem and climate? These are questions that my generation of architects is going to have to face at some point.
The Eastern Shore is perhaps Maryland’s most distinct cultural and ecological feature, and so I wanted to investigate whether resilient architecture could ensure the future of historic coastal agriculture. The rapidly increasing level of the Chesapeake Bay, at a rate twice the national average, threatens coastal communities, especially historic agricultural practices on the Eastern Shore. Thus, my thesis looks at the history of historic coastal agriculture in Easton to examine how architecture might shape its future.
I was not one of those students who knew what they wanted to work on for their thesis project from the start. Working on the “Building Hope” podcast during the advent of my thesis helped me focus on the influences of architecture. If building and construction are inevitable, it is an architect’s role to ensure that we design and organize it in such a way that positively impacts people, plants, animals, and the environment. Thus, my thesis deals with many of the same themes discussed on the podcast; adapting to the inevitability of climate change, integrated landscape design, and synthesis of history and time into design.
Looking back at my abstract, written at the start of my journey, it sheds light on both the thesis research and process. The abstract officially reads:
“This thesis explores how the relationship between wetland restoration and farming on Maryland’s Eastern Shore creates resilient coastal infrastructure. Coastal communities were designed for a climate that no longer exists and are ill equipped to face the rapidly changing landscape due to climate change. The Chesapeake Bay is already facing saltwater intrusion, rising sea levels, warmer temperature, and more frequent extreme weather events that threaten the productivity and livelihood of people, plants, and animals of Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Farms whose practice is threatened by the new climate can actually utilize wetlands intentionally for protection from flooding, poor water and soil quality, and pollution. Therefore, this thesis is aimed at designing a resilient farm and wetland park in an area whose history is closely woven with that of the land and agriculture. In the interest of longevity, the three design criteria are (1) closeness with and respect for the landscape, (2) adaptability, and (3) carbon neutrality. Overall, the coastal farm and wetland park seeks for design solutions to resilient and sustainable infrastructure in the intersections between the built and natural environment.”
Initially, I wanted to see if architecture could illuminate the importance of critical natural resources, specifically wetlands of the Chesapeake Bay. Through sussing out the methodology of doing so, the thesis inched farther away from focussing on wetlands, and more towards an integrated approach to industrial design and landscape. The project focused on redesigning an existing farm in hopes of better preparing it for the changing landscape. The new farm included a large equipment and storage facility, buildings dedicated towards goods storage and processing, and finally a visitor building.
Whether or not to include public infrastructure on site was a big struggle in my project. There seems to be this assumption that a public-facing program gives architecture value, especially in thesis projects. I do think that the project could have successfully addressed resilient and eco-conscious industrial design without the visitor aspect. Ultimately I decided that the wetland park was a significant part of raising awareness of the importance of that specific ecosystem, and did not want to limit access to the Chesapeake Bay only to coastal landowners.
The other big question was how exactly I was going to make a resilient farm. Adaptable farm buildings designed to move with climate change did not seem like a good response as farm buildings are closely tied to the land. Simply relocating the buildings to a part of the site protected against sea level rise also wouldn’t work, as the sea level rise would threaten the farming practices that give the buildings purpose. Should I keep the existing farm structures functional for as long as possible and focus on designing infrastructure that the farm could transition to? My analysis of the problem and studies of potential solutions led me to a much more radical approach.
The existing farm operations on site are at risk. My solution was to reframe the coastal farming practices, shifting towards producing goods better suited for the current climate: shellfish and wild rice production. Both shellfish and wild rice farming support the opportunity to significantly regrade the landscape. Thus, I cut and filled the land, transforming previously arable earth to productive aquaculture, and creating a terraced landscape for rice production, flood, and erosion control. The buildings are designed with durable materials, clear spans, and easily adaptable or maintained building assemblies. The existing farm buildings and immediate land were left untouched, fully at risk of flooding, to act as relics to the past and historic record of climate change. Finally, a boardwalk shapes the aquaculture farming practices and recreational program on the land. The form of the boardwalk is designed so that it traces the old coast, serving as another reminder of the severity of climate change.
I wouldn’t say that I was dreading defending my thesis. I enjoy talking about or sharing my passions and design, but I was definitely apprehensive about how it would be received. All in all, my thesis is about acknowledging indefinite boundaries at various scales, from the very nature of the site, to the boundaries between architecture and landscape. The reaction to my thesis, full of shock, dismay, and even a yearning for a bolder architectural move, was exactly what I had expected. Although there are certainly parts of my thesis that I wish I had more time to suss out or rethink, I was successful in my goal to examine what our current and future world will look like, how society needs to change to assimilate to the new climate, and discover what buildings should look like and do under given circumstances. The fact that the actual design of the buildings is perhaps the most restrained part of my thesis stands testament to the integrity of my exploration to find a balance between industrial building and the environment. Maybe under this new climate, a building can be functional, durable, and adaptable, but does not need to be the most eye-catching aspect of a site.
The last question that was asked of me during my thesis defense was if my design research led me to believe that given contemporary climate conditions, coastal agriculture was better off moving inland, or if the deeply historic and cultural practice will be viable in place in the future. My response to this question was that, although the future may look very different from what we have known, architecture and design can be used to create a culturally significant, well balanced, and safe agricultural practice on the banks of the Chesapeake Bay. I remain hopeful that thorough research, acknowledging hard truths, and not shying from bold solutions, we can mitigate the harmful effects of climate change and thrive in whatever the future brings.
See more images and information about “Suspended Culture: Agritecture for a Contemporary Climate” on my website or view the presentation / defense here.
Know someone interested in the future of architecture, agriculture, or both? Share or recommend this post. Together, we can continue to build hope.
The intro at the beginning was helpful, it clearly explained what the post was about. Vincenza's renderings and presentation are well done.