Climate Change is the New Gravity

摘要

In October 2012, Superstorm Sandy, the largest Atlantic hurricane on record, pummelled the East Coast of the United States. In New Jersey alone, Sandy caused US$30 billion in damages, killed 39 people and left 2.7 million homes and businesses without power, 350,000 of those needing repair or reconstruction.~1 The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) responded with regulations that mandated construction above the floodplain. This was a sensible technical solution, but disastrous from an architectural and social standpoint in that it would lift many buildings well above street level, disrupting longstanding existing neighbourhoods with entrenched and vibrant living patterns.