Breathing Berms
Within a heavily urbanized landscape the Quebrada Josefina has become heavily constrained to the built environment. With the channel isolated between concrete walls, it has lost its connection to the land and the people who inhabit it, posing a constant threat of flood damage to those who live closest to it. Our goal is to soften the connection between land and water, create more space for ecological growth, predict and control flooding, and create new relationships between locals and the water they live beside. Stilt and Berm housing units feature a gradient from private to public, inviting residents to look towards the Quebrada instead of away. These two new housing typologies are strategically deployed to respond to FEMA flood zones, minimizing flood damage in the surrounding neighborhoods through the creation of a controlled flood plane.
This was a group project with Olivia Messimer (RISD B.arch 2026). The shown drawings are my part of the project.