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The Project

RPI Architecture students in the Design Studio are hard at work this spring developing ecological unit prototypes for a waterfront site in New York City as part of their design studies. 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.

Design Studio Student Participants

Design Studio Student Participants

Ethan Aspiras ’26
Emily Beane ’26
Teja Humphrey ’25
Marcus Morgan ’26

Katerina Napoli ’26
Casey Rosen ’25
Scott Sigmund ’26
Victoria Webb ’26

Course Assistant:
Teshawn Sinclair ’24

Undergraduate Research Assistant:
Daniel Cureno, ’24

Faculty Instructor:
Marcus Carter,
School of Architecture

How You Can Help: Our Goal

Your gift today will help students design and fabricate these units for placement in intertidal waters. The goal is to raise $10,000 for this project before the end of the spring session in April, which offsets costs for fabricating formwork materials, supplying concrete, and the rigging and delivery of units to the waterfront sites.

This team will install and monitor the units in locations on Governors Island in New York City in order to understand how they can contribute to enhancing a living shoreline.

As a student in this Intertidal Object studio, I am gaining the invaluable experience in blending architecture with environmental sustainability, directly addressing the challenges of urban waterfronts. It's inspiring to be part of a program that not only serves me educationally but instills a sense of responsibility and stewardship towards our planet.”

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