ReMain Nantucket Opens Envision Resilience: Designs for Living with Rising Seas Exhibition at Nantucket Historical Association’s Thomas Macy Warehouse on July 2, 2021
From marshland, "A working waterfront" by Niema Jafari, Xuefeng Du and Kevin Gao of Yale.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, June 28, 2021
CONTACT:
Claire Martin
cmartin@remainnantucket.org
774-271-0868
NANTUCKET, Mass.--The Envision Resilience Nantucket Challenge exhibition, which showcases student design proposals for how Nantucket residents and businesses can live with sea level rise, will open on July 2, ReMain Nantucket announced today. The Envision Resilience: Designs for Living with Rising Seas exhibition will be displayed on the second floor of the Nantucket Historical Association's Thomas Macy Warehouse at 12 Straight Wharf. The free exhibition will be open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. through December 2021.
Five universities participated in the spring 2021 Envision Resilience Nantucket Challenge, and teams of students across multiple disciplines developed designs and proposals for how the island community could live with—rather than run from—rising sea levels.
Through the innovative work of graduate design students, the Challenge aims to inspire the community of Nantucket, as well as other coastal towns and cities, to imagine a future that is adaptive in the face of sea level rise. At a June 2 outdoor community presentation, students from University of Florida College of Design, Construction and Planning, Harvard University Graduate School of Design, University of Miami School of Architecture, The School of Architecture at Northeastern University and Yale School of Architecture showcased diverse and adaptive proposals for a reimagined Nantucket waterfront.
Designs included crescent and coastal fencing, buoyant foundations for private residences, flip-up boardwalks, a flood-resilient town square, green energy systems to replace existing grey infrastructure, sponge-like pavement along major streets and areas restored to natural sanctuaries. “The students were untethered to the reality of designs and buildings on Nantucket,” said Cecil Barron Jensen, executive director of ReMain Nantucket. “As a result, they used their imaginations in expansive and provocative ways.”
In addition to photographs, panels and artifacts on display, the student work includes animations, 3D-modeling and postcards and brochures. Complementing the student work, the exhibition will explore Nantucket’s long relationship with water and the island’s capacity for resilience and adaptability to change.
“We are thrilled to invite the community to take a deeper dive into the thoughtful and well-researched modeling of our waterfront by the university teams,“ said Jensen. “Our hope is that friends and neighbors will be as awe-inspired by the innovative designs as we have been and together, we can begin to imagine an adaptive future for our island.”
ReMain Nantucket invites the community to an Open House on Saturday, July 17 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. to celebrate the opening of the exhibition. The Open House is co-hosted by downstairs tenants John Silvia of Sylvia Antiques, Marcus Foley, Nantucket Folk Artist and the Envision Resilience Challenge Nantucket team at ReMain Nantucket.
The exhibition, being developed in partnership with the Nantucket Historical Association and the Artists Association of Nantucket, was curated by Michael R. Harrison, freelance historian and curator and Obed Macy Research Chair for the NHA, and Amanda Quintin, freelance designer.
ReMain Nantucket and ReMain Ventures are funded by Wendy Schmidt and her husband Eric to support the economic, social and environmental vitality of the island of Nantucket. In addition to ReMain Nantucket providing grants and sponsorships to support sustainable and cultural initiatives across the island, ReMain Nantucket has worked in conjunction with ReMain Ventures to revitalize the downtown district year-round through the preservation of historic buildings that are home to a mix of nonprofit and commercial businesses.
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