Types in the Park

Boxia Wang (MLA ’17)

As sea level rise and storm events continue to threaten the ecological and cultural environment of Miami Beach, this project seeks a strategy to restore the resilience of its landscape while still maintaining the city’s vitality.

The overall strategy is to elevate part of urban fringe along the bay, as “waterproof” zones for development of tourist resort while the area closer to the bay are reserved for ecological adaptation uses, serving as a barrier and protector for the inland zones.

Miami Beach used to be a mangrove swamp adapted to the local environment. In order to restore its ecological capacity, studies are conducted to identify four mangrove communities with different ability to handle sea level rise. Accordingly, four different types of island landforms are designed to each accommodate a particular mangrove community. Finally, these mangrove islands are organized and distributed within the radial grid system, creating layers of protection for the coastline.