Once upon a time, New York City only had to worry about 100-year storm surges. But as sea levels rise, new research shows that the city may need to worry about these high-intensity weather events as often as every three years.
To protect the Big Apple from flooding, a new design by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) is under consideration: the Big U. It's one of 10 entries in the Rebuild by Design competition, held by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The design of the Big U doesn't just address the concerns of engineers, it is built with community needs in mind.
“In the history of New York with the legacy of Robert Moses, most of the infrastructure—whether that’s highways or parks—have generally been imposed without a lot of regard for existing community fabric,” Jeremy Siegel, the project leader, told FastCompany. “If you’re going to be investing so much money into an infrastructure for resiliency—that’s going to be sitting along one of the most spectacular coastlines in the world—there’s a huge opportunity there to also improve civic infrastructure, so it can protect the city, but also become a platform for civic life."
The design extends from West 57th Street to the tip of the Battery, then up to East 42nd Street—but within that range, the coast is divided into completely separate flood protection zones. Essentially, this is the same design principle used in ship-building. If one part of the ship is breached by water, that water is contained in one area, rather than being free to spread throughout the hull. In the same way, the Big U flood protection zones are all completely autonomous. If one fails, that doesn't men the whole system fails.
This also means that as funding comes in, each section could be built on its own. In its competition entry, BIG focused on sections of the city that might benefit a bit more than others in the event of flooding—two of the three sections in the original design are located in the Lower East Side, which sustained serious damage during Hurricane Sandy.
“When it floods, it’s a population that doesn’t necessarily have the means to head out of town or take a hotel somewhere else,” Siegel says. “It’s a place that makes a lot of sense to start.”
The third section BIG focused on was the southern end of Manhattan, in order to protect vital financial institutions and create more effective public spaces. The design includes raised portions of land, both to prevent flooding and provide new park space. Beneath FDR drive, flood walls can be flipped up at will—either to stop incoming water, or to create a sheltered public space.
Check out the initial renderings of the Big U below. Renderings courtesy of BIG.
Related Stories
Codes and Standards | Feb 8, 2023
GSA releases draft of federal low embodied carbon material standards
The General Services Administration recently released a document that outlines standards for low embodied carbon materials and products to be used on federal construction projects.
University Buildings | Feb 7, 2023
Kansas City University's Center for Medical Education Innovation can adapt to changes in medical curriculum
The Center for Medical Education Innovation (CMEI) at Kansas City University was designed to adapt to changes in medical curriculum and pedagogy. The project program supported the mission of training leaders in osteopathic medicine with a state-of-the-art facility that leverages active-learning and simulation-based training.
Multifamily Housing | Feb 7, 2023
Multifamily housing rents flat in January, developers remain optimistic
Multifamily rents were flat in January 2023 as a strong jobs report indicated that fears of a significant economic recession may be overblown. U.S. asking rents averaged $1,701, unchanged from the prior month, according to the latest Yardi Matrix National Multifamily Report.
Giants 400 | Feb 6, 2023
2022 Reconstruction Sector Giants: Top architecture, engineering, and construction firms in the U.S. building reconstruction and renovation sector
Gensler, Stantec, IPS, Alfa Tech, STO Building Group, and Turner Construction top BD+C's rankings of the nation's largest reconstruction sector architecture, engineering, and construction firms, as reported in the 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Feb 6, 2023
2022 Transit Facility Giants: Top architecture, engineering, and construction firms in the U.S. transit facility sector
Walsh Group, Skanska USA, HDR, Perkins and Will, and AECOM top BD+C's rankings of the nation's largest transit facility sector architecture, engineering, and construction firms, as reported in the 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Feb 6, 2023
2022 Telecommunications Facility Sector Giants: Top architecture, engineering, and construction firms in the U.S. telecommunications facility sector
AECOM, Alfa Tech, Kraus-Anderson, and Stantec head BD+C's rankings of the nation's largest telecommunications facility sector architecture, engineering, and construction firms, as reported in the 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Feb 6, 2023
2022 Religious Sector Giants: Top architecture, engineering, and construction firms in the U.S. religious facility construction sector
HOK, Parkhill, KPFF, Shawmut Design and Construction, and Wiss, Janney, Elstner head BD+C's rankings of the nation's largest religious facility sector architecture, engineering, and construction firms, as reported in the 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Feb 6, 2023
2022 Justice Facility Sector Giants: Top architecture, engineering, and construction firms in the U.S. justice facility/public safety sector
Stantec, DLR Group, Turner Construction, STO Building Group, AECOM, and Dewberry top BD+C's rankings of the nation's largest architecture, engineering, and construction firms for justice facility/public safety buildings work, including correctional facilities, fire stations, jails, police stations, and prisons, as reported in the 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Feb 6, 2023
2022 Parking Structure Giants: Top architecture, engineering, and construction firms in the U.S. parking structure sector
Choate Parking Consultants, Walker Consultants, Kimley-Horn, PCL, and Balfour Beatty top BD+C's rankings of the nation's largest parking structure sector architecture, engineering, and construction firms, as reported in the 2022 Giants 400 Report.
Market Data | Feb 6, 2023
Nonresidential construction spending dips 0.5% in December 2022
National nonresidential construction spending decreased by 0.5% in December, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data published today by the U.S. Census Bureau. On a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, nonresidential spending totaled $943.5 billion for the month.