In partnership with Broward County, Florida and the Southeast Florida Regional Climate Compact, the CLR coordinated and taught interdisciplinary design studio curricula on landscape-based urban adaptation and resilience inSouth Florida since 2013. The CodingFlux studio series has engaged over 60 students of urban planning, environmental policy and planning, urban design, architecture, and landscape architecture at both MIT (2015/2016) and the Daniels Faculty (2013/2017), all the studios included leading field trips, workshops and first-hand interaction with locals and government officials. The creative work produced through this studio has had a profound impact on both the students and Broward County officials. “The [student] projects and proposals play a big role in inspiration and future policy considerations,”said the Executive Director of the Broward Planning Council Barbara Blake-Boy in 2018. “The students develop creative and forward-thinking techniques and proposals that could potentially change the face of resiliency planning in Broward County, helping us think outside of the traditional box.”   Some of the student studio projects yielded significant innovative ideas that gained momentum and traction at a regional level in Broward County. For example, Deputy Director Deputy Director and Chief Innovation Officer of Environmental Protection and Growth Management in Broward County, Leonard Vialpando presented ideas generated through the research and design studios at Regional Climate Action Plan Implementation Workshops. Where key concepts such as topographic “Climate-based Transfer Density Development Rights”, the design of interconnected water corridors as seasonal open spaces, and the creation of fresh-water “Hydro-storage Credits”, are all being discussed as near-term adaptation strategies for the County; demonstrating the real-world significant impacts of creative design solutions emerging from academic design studio settings.  

The studios were broken into three main parts; first an animated mapping exercise (Animated Analytics), followed by research on urban codes / zoning and dynamic multi-scalar adaptation design strategies (Codification Workshop),concluding with urban scale design strategies (Responsive Propositions).  Since there was a direct connection with a public planning agency, it was critical toengage design students with the tools of planning (land use, zoning code, and policy planning), as such, this studio implored planning standards and codes in enabling the ubiquity of the status quo and perpetuating risk. The studio asked why does land use zoning code continue to remain static when we know that land is dynamic?  

In light of heightened vulnerabilities brought upon by climate change, the brief questioned why powerful legislative spatial planning tools, such as land use zoning, in places like South Florida remain inherently static and reductive?  In order to introduce design students to the tools of planning, the studios included intensive exercises in the form of an “urban codification workshop”. Students were immersed in the planning policy / land use code of a site or topic of their choice. Students had to first translate these codes into a consistent spatial graphic / visual language. They then had to evaluate why most of their proposals would be non-conforming, and in doing so, illustrate how the majority of existing standardized urban codes in fact hinder innovation and progress by perpetuating risk and vulnerability. Additionally, students distilled “codes” from contemporary resiliency / adaptation design competitions such as Rebuild by Design and Rising Currents resulting in a compendium of design-based resiliency urban codes.   Studio trips to SouthFlorida to visit studio sites and meet with officials in Broward County, theFlorida Keys, and Miami took place each year during hurricane season. With the ground saturated by the seasonal storms, students witnessed first-hand the impacts of climate change on the region, from tidal sunny day floods to areas of salt-water intrusion. Students were given guided tours of hydrological infrastructures by the South Florida Water Management District, visited the Everglades with a team of ecologists, and conducted work sessions with planners, engineers, and scientists in the County head offices. Throughout the semester we had regular check-ins with our County clients, including the final review where the Executive Director of the Broward Planning Council as well as theAssistant Director of Broward County Environmental Protection and GrowthManagement Department came to Toronto.
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2018 Studio Prize and Sloan Award
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Coding Flux: In Pursuit of Resilient Urbanism in South Florida Option Studio (co-taught with Elise Shelly) was awarded the 2018 Studio Prize and Sloan Award by Architect Magazine. This studio looked at how we can rethink planning guidelines to create resilient infrastructure in coastal communities threatened by rising sea levels. The jury selected six studios from across the U.S. and Canada “as some of the best examples of architectural investigation taking place in colleges and universities today.” Winners included The Cooper Union,University of Texas – Austin, University of Michigan,University of Arizona, and Columbia GSAPP.  In addition to the Studio Prize, the studio was also given the Sloan Award, which recognizes sustainable water conservation and management. It awards a studio that uses novel means of investigation that hone students’ formal design skills in order to tackle issues of local and global importance.  The students received a cash prize and the studio was recognized in awards ceremony at One Spadina on March 21st,2018. The University of Toronto News covered the event in an article by Peter Boissue.

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