Living with the Coast

Climate change is intensifying coastal storms, accelerating sea level rise, and increasing the environmental, social, and economic risks faced by waterfront communities. In response, this project investigates how coastal living can remain safe and resilient while also becoming healthy, engaging, and accessible to the public. Rather than relying solely on engineered protection, the proposal reimagines the coastal edge as a regenerative interface between natural systems and human activity.

The design reorganizes the coastal landscape through two guiding principles: regenerating dynamic ecological processes and rethinking material flows through circular systems. Together, these principles frame a long-term vision in which resilience is achieved not only through defense, but through adaptation, restoration, and shared environmental stewardship.

Based on this framework, the project introduces three integrated strategies. Shoreline restoration employs nature-based landscape interventions to heal degraded coastal conditions while establishing adaptive protective ecologies. Living with the landscape enables safe human occupation in flood-prone areas through floating and elevated public structures that transform climate risk into spatial opportunity. Circular community proposes shared infrastructures and resource cycles grounded in circular economy principles, supporting a socially connected and environmentally responsible coastal future.

Collectively, these strategies envision a resilient coastal environment where ecological regeneration, public life, and climate adaptation operate as a unified system.