RPI Architecture students in the Design Studio are hard at work this summer developing ecological unit prototypes for a waterfront site in New York City as part of the Arch program. The goals of this exciting student design and research project are three-fold: to engage and support the ecology of waterfront sites in our cities, raise awareness of ecological interventions, and learn about concrete as a material resource.

Much of the urban coastline exists as hard sea walls or riprap, piled stones or other durable material, used to armor the coast against erosion and wave action. These have replaced long-gone conditions before industrialization, in which the coasts existed in softer forms with vegetation and other life that mitigated against storm surges.

Students are designing and monitoring three-dimensional units to fit into existing shoreline riprap as part of this project. This will meet the performance criteria of ecological coastal armoring units, which, when placed in intertidal waters, will create micro-environments for small aquatic creatures and plants.