Iterative Resilience: Synchronizing Dynamic Landscapes with Responsive Architecture Systems

On September 1st, 2008 six foot waves hit Grand Isle, Louisiana, destroyingnumerous buildings in their path. Caused by Hurricane Gustav, the storm surgerolled right over most of this seven foot high barrier island. This was the sixteenthstorm that caused major damage to buildings/infrastructure there sincethe 1893 hurricane (which killed nearly 2,000 people with 130mph windsand 16ft storm surge) and not only devastated the island, but shifted its landmassnortheast. In this landscape of devastating forces, unstable ground, andcyclical change, structures that typically last decades are rendered temporary.This paper investigates how a specific deployment of prefabricated architecturecreates an adaptive, resilient solution to shifting sedimentation and settlementpatterns on Grand Isle, and other barrier island coastal communities.Because Grand Isle is continuously transformed spatially by climactic, morphological,and resource driven disturbance regimes, altering the island’sphysical shape, size and socio-economic conditions, it is an ideal case-studysite for semi-mobile modular deployment. Currently, most buildings thereare elevated on piers to mitigate hydrodynamic destruction caused by seasonalstorm winds and flooding; when land beneath them disappears, theyare decommissioned. Instead, we propose that modular, elevated structuresshift across an expanded grid of friction-pile structural foundations, readjustingtheir location relative to the transforming landscape, in order to “nestle”into post-disturbance configurations. As the island arcs increasingly southeastward,the building modules are detached, relocated and reattached, viagantry cranes, to the pile grid.Residences and critical infrastructure buildings, comprised of modular unitsare elevated above the Base Flood Elevation (BFE: the surface water elevationresulting from a flood with a 1 percent chance of equaling or exceedingthat level in any given year) to avoid devastating hydrodynamic forces.But when residences are raised this high, they lose essential connection tothe ground plane. The proposed module system organizes units at differentlevels of elevation and durability, and allows for flexible porches and circulationthat mitigate the section between ground and suspended unit.The most durable modules containing the most critical equipment (e.g. MEP)are elevated safely above the BFE while the building’s programmatic spacesstep to the ground, suturing the gap between building and earth. As the landscapeand structures shift, the pile grid indexes former building locations andchange through time, while supporting accessory program and infrastructure.This adaptable modular design creates an integrated built environment,in an unforgiving landscape, expanding architectural scope and agencythrough the process of reconfiguration. The module systems ship on bargesfrom the factory, are offloaded with gantry cranes, and brought directly tothe building site. The crane lifts modules to their specified height, andthe units are fastened into the pile grid (this process will be detailed in thepaper). Through the periodic adjustment of module height and location, thearchitecture remains dynamically responsive to its landscape. Likewise, thearchitectural process is elongated as siting, design, construction/assembly,and inhabitation iterate to ensure the long term occupation of Grand Isle.

Volume Editors
John Quale, Rashida Ng & Ryan E. Smith

ISBN
978-0-935502-85-5