Architecture Commons^™

Small Islands Commons: Retrieving Territory, Identity And Rights In The Bahamas, Fangzhou Zhao

Masters Theses

The Earth’s surface area comprises 71% ocean and 29% land. This vast disparity has led to the conceptualization of the Earth as a collection of interconnected islands, a perspective that challenges traditional views which often portray islands as isolated, marginal, or primitive. These narratives have been further complicated by the effects of climate change, which positions islands as vulnerable and in need of attention.

This research seeks to explore new socio-cultural contracts with territories to achieve bio-socio-spatial justice. It aims to maintain sustainable and equitable relationships between governments and local communities, focusing on addressing historical inequalities. By examining landscape-based strategies …

Arctic Resilience: Adaptive Networks Of Self-Sufficiency, Jingjing Cui

Masters Theses

As the impacts of climate change reverberate across the globe, there is an increasing focus on communities already grappling with high environmental stress, limited resources, isolation, and economic challenges. Among these communities, the Arctic region stands out not for its population size, but for the threat posed to their traditional ways of life by the melting polar icecap, rising seas, changing ecology, and shifting migration patterns of vital wildlife. Many communities are living on shorelines being lost to the sea, having been moved there decades earlier by government and oil corporation dictates. Now facing impending relocation again, these communities have …

Resilient Architecture: Adaptive Community Living In Coastal Locations, Erica Shannon

Masters Theses

How can architects design for coastal inundation caused by climate change, what are the methods and strategies currently being implemented as a response to coastal inundation, and how can these strategies influence the design approach for a self-sustaining community that can survive and thrive in a low-lying coastal area?

Climate change is caused by an expenditure of planet-harming resources being improperly or inefficiently utilized and consumed. This can lead to a rise of global sea level and an increased severity of storm surges.

Resilience is defined as the ability to overcome challenges and difficulties. Coastal resilience is the ability for …