PREMISE

Designers must commit to addressing the unprecedented and horrifying REALITIES of climate change dynamics on the planet’s patterns, processes, and habitats. Survival of all species depends upon multi-valent problem-solving with creative assessment, critical thinking, and ambitious implementation at every scale.

FRAMEWORK

The global disruptions caused by climatic shifts mean that the predictable provisioning of basic needs is an immediate THREAT on every continent. Some underdeveloped nations have always been vulnerable to fluctuations in available resources, and some developed nations have grown complacent about questions of survival, after having largely addressed basic needs through infrastructure, public policy, and distribution systems.

This workshop focused on SHELTER in a place where the connotations of house and home – safety, security, autonomy – have been indelibly altered. Hurricane Maria’s devastating impact on Puerto Rico’s inhabitants offers lessons in living at the extreme. During the workshop, a series of earthquakes further disrupted conditions on the island, leaving inhabitants feeling even less secure in their recovery efforts.

PROCESS

Participants visited San Juan 29 months after the storm to assess both the damage from the storm and the status of its recovery. Research would include domestic support systems, local practices, conservation mechanisms, technological and best practices integration.

Students toured select neighborhoods and sites in San Juan, and devoted time meeting with local experts and constituents.

Projects were developed through group analysis, on-site field work, and individual design inquiries, with a focus on prototyping methodologies. The workshops findings were collected in a printed volume, assembled during the last week of the semester.