In the “Rebuild by Design” compeon, which featured 9
different teams including BIG, OMA, and WXY, innovave and locally responsive designs were proposed to enhance the resilience of coastal communies. The compeon required that proposals be flexible, phased, and capable of integrang with ongoing projects. Henk Ovink, the leader of the “Rebuild by Design” iniave and advisor to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), stated: “Rebuild by Design is less about making a plan, and more about transforming culture.” Winners will be announced this spring.
BIG’s proposal, The BIG U, is based on the firm’s concepts of social infrastructure and “hedonistic sustainability.” The project envisions a protecve system around Manhattan stretching approximately 10 miles (16 kilometers). This system is designed not only to defend the city from flooding and storm surges but also to create social and environmental spaces tailored to the needs of each neighborhood. Bjarke Ingels explains:
“We asked ourselves: What if the resilience infrastructure for Lower Manhattan wasn’t just a wall that separates the city from the water, but a string of ‘pearls’—each one offering social and environmental amenies unique to its neighborhood, while also protecng it from future flooding? The idea is to understand social infrastructure as a grand strategy rooted in local communies.”
