Regional and Urban Design Committee

Webinar Description

Background
The historically the foundation of the architectural and planning profession began with the designing of buildings and cities that fit and functioned with its place - its location, its climate. Climate change and the associated impacts, along with exponential population growth and the over-consumption of resources associated with that growth, is rapidly degrading the system balance. This balance contributes to economic stability, natural resource renewal and our quality of life. This out-of-balance, stresses the natural systems ability to provide the basic services essential for life - clean water, air and a productive soil.
For thousands of years architects have been ingenious in their ability to design solutions that solve for environmental challenges. Recent examples are the green and sustainable design movement focused on solving challenges of creating healthy, energy efficient buildings.
Resilient design incorporates those missions but also includes the designs' ability to adapt to changing conditions.
In general systems theory the process is to start by understanding the system larger than the project - for example when working on a building-site design first learn the urban pattern it is part of.
Resilient design is a design initiative and philosophy that is informed by the larger system. Region to urban, urban to neighborhood, neighborhood to architecture - each informed by the other.
Resilient design builds on our professions history by promoting adaptive and adoptive solutions to architecture and the urban and regional scale - design challenges that are responsive to dynamic and changing conditions at a scale commensurate with the challenge.


Objectives
1.    What does Resilient Design mean and why is it important to my practice of architecture and urban and regional design?
2.    What is the relevance of resilient design in solving for climate change challenges such as drought, flooding and sea level rise?
3.    How do I adapt my practice to include Resilient Design?
4.    What are some examples of Resilient Design at the larger scale?



President Obama....
"These leaders are here because states and communities that they represent are already dealing with the effects of climate change," the President said at today's meeting. "They're seeing rising sea levels, more powerful hurricanes, more intense heat waves, severe droughts, and wildfires out west. So this is already happening, and these leaders understand that climate change is a threat to public safety, it's a threat to public health, and to something that we want to emphasize today -- the infrastructure upon which our economy depends."
More severe storms and increased flooding threaten roads and bridges and businesses.  Rising sea levels threaten coastal communities and ports.
So climate change poses a direct threat to the infrastructure of America that we need to stay competitive in this 21st-century economy.  That means that we should see this as an opportunity to do what we should be doing anyway, and that's modernizing our infrastructure, modernizing our roads, modernizing our bridges, power grids, our transit systems, and making sure that they're more resilient.  That's going to be good for commerce and it's obviously going to be good for communities.

During his remarks, the President also announced a series of actions in response to early feedback from the Task Force. These actions will help state, local, and tribal leaders prepare their communities for climate change by building more resilient infrastructure and rebuilding existing infrastructure in a stronger and smarter way.

We're going to do more, including new data and 3D maps to help state, local officials in communities understand which areas and which infrastructure are at risk as a consequence of climate change.  We're going to help communities improve their electric grids, build stronger seawalls and natural barriers, and protect their water supplies.  We're also going to invest in stronger and more resilient infrastructure.
Last month, I announced a new competitive fund -- $1 billion -- to help communities do this.  Today we're taking steps to make sure that this competition will work.  We're going to announce the specifics about who can compete, how we can learn from communities that are rebuilding stronger from disasters like Hurricane Sandy and flooding in Colorado.  We want the best ideas to become models for the whole country.  And the idea of this competition is not just the communities that win a grant are able to improve their infrastructure but what we're also going to be doing is hopefully lifting everybody's game and making sure that people in their planning are thinking about these issues as they move forward.

After the webinar, you will be able to:

•    Define community-based disaster resilience for the built environment
•    Identify consistent performance goals and metrics for buildings and infrastructure and lifeline systems to enhance community resilience,
•    Identify existing standards, codes, guidelines, and tools that can be implemented to enhance resilience, and
Identify gaps in current standards, codes, and tools that if successfully addressed, can lead to enhanced resilience.

 

Speakers
Daniel E. Williams, FAIA, APA
A practicing architect and planner in Seattle and Miami and is an internationally recognized expert in sustainable design. Mr. Williams is a member of the experts team for the Clinton Climate + Initiative, advising on projects in Toronto and London. He served as 2006 chair of the AIA's Sustainability Task Group and sat on the national advisory council for United States Environmental Protection Agency - NACEPT. In 2011 he was selected to act as jury chair for the National AIA/Urban and Regional Design Honor Awards. Named Eminent Scholar and Distinguished Alumni at the University of Florida, his book Sustainable Design: Ecology, Architecture and Planning was published Earthday 2007 by John Wiley & Sons was called a top ten book on sustainable design by the Royal Academy of Architects and top 5 in sustainable design and planning by Planetizen. Dan has taught and lectured in architecture and planning for over 30 years and is on the Master of Sustainable Design faculty at the University of Florida's extension in Singapore. Presently he is working on a book that illustrates the designs connectivity between science and art titled No Small Plans: An Ecological Design Approach to National Sustainability.

Bruce Race, FAIA, FAICP, PhD
the principal and founder of RACESTUDIO and is responsible for all aspects of project planning, design and delivery. Since founding RACESTUDIO in Berkeley, CA in 1994, his projects have received 32 design and planning awards including national awards from the American Institute of Architects, American Planning Association, Environmental Protection Agency and Society of College and University Planning. The Long Range Development Plan for UC Merced received a national 2012 AIA COTE Top Ten Green Projects Award, and the Owings Award for Environmental Excellence, from the California Architectural Foundation in 2013. Dr. Race is the Associate Professor of Practice and a full-time faculty for Ball State University's Master of Urban Design program in Indianapolis. His design talent, practice experience and research interests intersect in his classroom studios where he emphasizes design innovation grounded by real world experience. In addition to teaching at Ball State, Dr. Race is a visiting research fellow, faculty in MA in Urban Design program, and instructor in the Low Carbon Architecture Summer Program with Cardiff University's Welsh School of Architecture.


This webinar is free for AIA members, and $39.99 for non-members.
This course is worth 1 CEU.

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Lynnea Garrett
Manager, Knowledge Communities
The American Institute of Architects
Washington DC
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