Landscape and Engineering Design Studio: Coastal

Catalog description

All along the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, communities, industries, and ecosystems inhabit a perpetually transforming coastal landscape. Throughout the history of urban development, settlement patterns have denied the persistent dynamism and typically constructed upon these landscapes as if they were permanent. Barrier Islands, long thin, sandy islands aligned parallel to the shore are perhaps the most indicative of this tendency, as they are constantly eroding and growing in line with larger scale coastal dynamics. This studio introduces students to the underlying physical, chemical, and ecological processes that contribute to the dynamism of Louisiana’s barrier island chains. Students will investigate and learn to design coastal landscapes at the extreme margins of constructability, proposing adaptation pathways and questioning current development practices that challenge the continuation of existing coastal communities. This course was previously offered as LAND 6021 : Landscape and Engineering Design Studio: Coastal.