Claire Weisz on Resilient Design

It has been an honor and privilege to work with Claire Weisz, principal-in-charge of WXY architecture + urban design, on an important article, published by Architectural Design/Wiley in this beautiful book, SU+RE: Sustainable + Resilient Design Systems. Claire’s article, titled Resilient Design: Systems Thinking as a Response to Climate Change, argues that “design thinking” needs to be coupled with “systems thinking” in order to adequately deal with the magnitude of climate change, and surprisingly it is smaller, interdisciplinary firms that are leading the way when it comes to innovative systems-thinking approaches to the big problems of climate change. “Design thinking is not enough. For resilient architecture and …

Where Resiliency Hits the Road

I have a new piece in the Fall 2017 issue of Oculus: Should resilience officers focus on preparing for climate change? When it comes to this existential challenge, there’s not even a consensus on this seemingly basic question. “Where Resiliency Hits the Road:  How those at the forefront of adapting to climate change and natural disasters are implementing effective projects at scale.” “No other approach to design encompasses the existential concepts of time and space like resilient design. The response to climate change is necessary at all scales – from the one-acre public plaza to the regional oastline to the multi-state …

WXY in LA, Toronto, and DC

Claire Weisz, principal-in-charge of WXY architecture + urban design, will be on a distinguished panel of experts discussing the latest mobility innovations and what that means for public space. What can Los Angeles — and the Arts District in particular — learn from New York City projects, such as Astor Place and the Brooklyn Strand? Find out when Claire speaks on Dec. 19th at LA CoMotion. At the City Age Toronto conference — just on the heels of Sidewalk Labs’ announcement to create an innovation district on the Toronto waterfront — Claire will be discussing the firm’s work developing three …

Justin Davidson on the Common Edge Podcast

ICYMI, I interviewed Justin Davidson, architecture critic for New York magazine, for the Common Edge Podcast. We talk about his new book, Magnetic City, and a host of other architecture and urban design issues, such as how the role of the architecture critic has evolved; the imminent collapse of the skinny condo tower market; and why he’s optimistic about the still evolving World Trade Center site.

Parks as Infrastructure

WXY was invited to submit an article for the AIANYS Winter Quarterly magazine focused on transportation and infrastructure, so we wrote about parks! It might seem incongruous but that is, in fact, how Claire and her design team at WXY approached two very different park designs—the Brooklyn Strand and the Rockaway Boardwalk—as opportunities to resolve a host of infrastructure issues and to facilitate resilience and connectivity. “It is not enough for parks to exist as single-use islands of tranquility. Today’s parks need to do much more: build infrastructure, provide connectivity and increase resilience—as well as offer urbanites of all ages …