Climate-Adaptive Design | Department of Landscape Architecture

Studio Premise

Landscape architects are uniquely equipped to grasp big-picture climate concerns while providing detailed, site-specific climate-adaptive design responses. At the same time, many landscape architectural design practices already possess climate-adaptive potential, but they are not yet assembled and calibrated as a comprehensive scope of services for climate adaptation. Designers can further improve project resilience by reinforcing ecological processes in cities as part of a comprehensive set of adaptive design moves that are both systemic and site specific. By looking at all aspects of design through the lens of climate vulnerability and

The Climate-Adaptive Design (CAD) studio is a research effort in partnership with Cornell Landscape Architecture, Cornell Biological and Environmental Engineering and the NYS DEC Hudson River Estuary Program. The CAD studio links Cornell students in landscape architecture, planning, and watershed engineering with Hudson Riverfront communities to explore design alternatives that envision more climate resilient, waterfront communities. Led by Professor Josh Cerra at the 4th year undergraduate and 2nd year graduate levels. Click on images of student work to enlarge.

'Weaving the Waterfront' in Kingston, NY by MLA candidates '18 Luyao Kong, Hong Gao, and Quianli Feng

*This project won a 2017 ASLA Student General Design Award: https://www.asla.org/2017studentawards/327156.html