Earth Day Sunday: On the Waterfront – NYC at Risk

We’ve got 600 miles of coastline, water underground, water rushing at us from upstream, tidal currents rushing in from all around. We have one of the world’s largest natural harbors, from which an amazing port city grew. Even without a changing climate, we would have waterfront problems and just as many conflicting demands on our shores. On Earth Day Sunday, a panel of design professionals will consider current and future imperatives for our city’s bountiful but, in recent years, destructive waterfront. The event is co-hosted by AIA NY’s Design for Risk and Reconstruction Committee (DfRR) and ASLA-NY. Topics

• What is New York City’s hydrological cycle? How does climate change affect it?
• What is at stake and what is at risk?
• What constitutes good long-range policy for water on, above, below, and beyond the city’s surface?
• What are the most interesting water-related ideas, proposals, and projects for the 5 boroughs, the city, and the region? Water’s edge, inland, and upland? Beach to wetland to building block?

Speakers:

• Lance Jay Brown, FAIA, and Illya Azaroff, AIA, Co-chairs, Design for Risk & Reconstruction Committee, AIANY
• Bonnie Harken, AIA, President, Nautilus International
• Walter Meyer, Founding Principal, Local Office Landscape Architecture
• Anthony Romeo, AIA, Program Director/Park Programs, NYC Dept. of Design & Construction
• James Russell, FAIA, [Moderator], Architecture Critic for Bloomberg News, and author, The Agile City
• Claire Weisz, FAIA, Founder, wxy architecture + urban design

Organized by: AIANY Design for Risk & Reconstruction Committee Co-Sponsored by: ASLA NY DfRR’s programs address planning and design through the lens of what is at risk for New York City, how to avoid major episodes, and how to rebuild better after them. The committee presents experts and strategies to consider how the City’s form and buildings affect the health, safety, and welfare of its citizens. http://designforriskny.blogspot.com/2013/04/upcoming-dfrr-earth-day-event.html