Resiliency Overview

RESILIENCY:
What is it and why is it important?

noun re·sil·ience \ri-ˈzil-yən(t)s\

: the ability to become strong, healthy, or successful again after something bad happens

Recently being heralded as "the new sustainability," resilience is the ability to recover from, and plan for, difficult circumstances. When a person or community experiences a trauma, there are ways for these people to recover and continue to live life. More importantly, there are social services and systems in place in an attempt to prevent catastrophe. Shouldn't we expand the concept of resiliency to apply to our infrastructure? Our business practices? Responding to disaster is vital, but so is planning for it.

The population of the world has grown exponentially in the last 50 years; currently it is over 7 billion people. Climate change is a reality and while focusing on ways to reduce our impact on the environment is absolutely necessary, so is preparing for natural disaster, lack of space, lack of resources, and other problems that come along with our ever-increasing population.

A collapsed house along the central Jersey Shore
coast on Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2012, after Superstorm Sandy.

In 2012, Superstorm Sandy tore through the East Coast and the Caribbean, causing billions of dollars in damage and destroying hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses. Many lost power and had to evacuate. Unfortunately, New York and New Jersey were unprepared for this disaster. Currently, Governor Cuomo "wants electrical transformers in commercial buildings hauled to upper floors; the ability to shutter key tunnels, airports and subways; and to require hospitals to have backup power on high ground instead of on lower floors or in basements." These are examples of resilient design that are being implemented too late to provide protection from Sandy, but it is important that coastal cities adapt to our changing climate. The US Department of Housing and Urban Development recently launched a competition to redesign coastal NY and NJ. It is important that cities across the country and world begin to think about creating a more resilient world.

How can we become more resilient? There is no cut-and-dry answer to that, but the Resilient Design Institute has created 10 Resilient Design Principles. Check them out here!

Welcome to Global Design: Analysis of historic environments and planning for resilient communities

What is this course about??

uThis course examines the development and impact of resilient design as it relates to a community’s ability to predict, react and adapt unanticipated factors. 

uStudents gain factual knowledge about the strategies and tools required for resiliency

uWith a focus on historical built environments and business continuity planning. 

uStudents analyze and observe the various resilient design approaches used across the globe and explore these important cultural and geographical differences through international travel. 

The class will be traveling to Prague and Berlin March 6, 2015- March 14, 2015. We will be blogging about our research and experiences.