The climate is changing, and buildings must change along with it.
That’s the idea behind the Envision Resilience Challenge, a multi-university design studio and community engagement initiative. Spearheaded by Remain—a Nantucket, Mass.-based organization funded by philanthropist Wendy Schmidt and husband Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google—the program seeks creative solutions to environmental challenges and will bring together students and faculty from eight universities to research potential approaches and propose designs for how a coastal region can adapt to the impacts of climate change.
The coming fall semester will mark the program’s fourth year exploring resilient solutions at the local level after its debut in Nantucket in 2021. Successful design challenges followed in Narragansett Bay, R.I. in 2022 and in New Bedford and Fairhaven, Mass., in 2023.
This year, the Envision Resilience Challenge will focus its efforts on coastal Maine, particularly Portland, South Portland, and the Casco Bay islands, where the effects of climate change are evident. In 2022, the area experienced its second-hottest year on record, and sea levels are rising three to four times the global average, according to the Gulf of Maine Research Institute.
Universities participating in this year’s Envision Resilience Challenge include Cornell University, Harvard University, the University at Buffalo, the University of Maine Augusta, the University of Michigan, the University of Virginia, Yale University, and the program’s first international partner, the University of Toronto.
“The eight participating university teams bring the ability to merge spatial and social histories, community input, and speculative futures that will become hopeful visions for Portland, Maine, and other communities facing similar challenges,” says Wendy Schmidt, founder of Remain.
Michael Luegering, assistant professor at the University of Virginia School of Architecture, says collaboration with local experts, business owners, and nonprofit organizations bridges the gap between academia and practical applications.
“The organization, framework, and leadership of the Envision Resilience Challenge does a masterful job of getting out ahead of the semester and establishing high-quality partnerships and a true commitment and dedication to engaging with the community,” says Luegering, who led a studio team last year to research migration and coastal adaptation for the 2022/23 Envision Resilience Challenge in Fairhaven and New Bedford. “That accelerated input and guidance from the program allows our teams to really dive deep into the local culture, traditions, and history and engage in a meaningful way.”
The solutions uncovered during these sessions can be a roadmap to guide a community’s urban planning. Previous design proposals include a retrofit of a historic firehouse into a wind-powered multifamily project, wood pilings to support housing along an eroding shoreline, and a green corridor along a river to address flooding and the heat island effect.
“The Envision Resilience Challenge brought to New Bedford a creative and data-informed way of thinking about our most pressing climate and resilience challenges,” says on Mitchell, New Bedford’s mayor. “The model of convening design students with key stakeholders to imagine adaptive solutions grounded in local knowledge and history is an asset to any city. I’m sure the City of Portland, Maine, will benefit from their participation, as we did.”
The public is invited to follow along throughout the duration of the Envision Resilience Challenge at www.envisionresilience.org and via social media (@envisionresiliencechallenge). To learn more about the previous studios, explore the 2021 Envision Resilience Nantucket Challenge, 2022 Envision Resilience Narragansett Bay Challenge, and 2023 Envision Resilience New Bedford and Fairhaven Challenge.
