Four Designs for Resilient Neighborhoods After Sandy

After Hurricane Sandy tore through the Rockaways in Queens, New York, nonprofits, developers, and the City of New York joined to launch a competition for a designing neighborhoods that can better stand up to rising sea levels and future storms. The FAR ROC competition asked for a new design for a part of Far Rockaway that was slated for development several years ago; the original designs were never built because of the financial crisis, so now there's an opportunity to put together a more resilient choice.

Here are the four finalists, all aiming not only for resilience in storms, but economic feasibility, sustainability, and replicability in other cities facing similar challenges.

A design from Toronto-based Lateral Office calls for boardwalks, water corridors that can channel away stormwater, and a bungalow community built on stilts at higher ground.

Seeding Office from London proposed a boardwalk that helps push water away during a storm, sunken paths to channel water, and raised footpaths that people can use to get to safety when it floods. Housing is surrounded by nature preserves and retail stores, and powered by wind and solar energy.

This design from Ennead Architects uses sand dunes and other local ecology as a natural barrier from rising water. All buildings are above the flood line, densely built to help save energy and build a strong community—the architects make the point that connections between neighbors are a critical part of resilience in a crisis.

White Arkitecter from Sweden designed a neighborhood centered around a boardwalk that helps retain and keep away storm water, and that uses a park as a buffer zone for storm surges. Shops, galleries, and studios and homes surround the boardwalk.

Check out all of the final proposals here.

Top image courtesy of Flickr user scarlatti2004, other images courtesy Lateral Office, Seeding Office, Ennead Architects, and White Arkitecter.