In order to defend infrastructure, economy, and settlement in Southeast Louisiana, we must construct new land to mitigate
increasing risk. Links between urban environments and economic drivers have constrained the dynamic delta landscape
for generations, now threatening to undermine the ecological fitness of the entire region. Static methods of measuring,
controlling, and valuing land fail in an environment that is constantly in flux; change and indeterminacy are denied by
traditional inhabitation.
Multiple land building practices reintroduce deltaic fluctuation and strategic deposition of fertile material to form the
foundations of a multilayered defense strategy. Manufactured marshlands reduce exposure to storm surge further inland.
Virtual monitoring and communication networks inform design decisions and land use becomes determined by its
ecological health. “Mudscapes” at the threshold of land and water place new value on former “wastelands” as filtered,
strategically deposited waste material accelerates vertical land growth. The social, economic, and ecological evolution of
the region is defended by an expanding web of growing land.
PROJECT COMPLETED WITH THE GENEROUS SUPPORT OF THE LSU COASTAL SUSTAINABILITY STUDIO
DATA COURTESY OF GRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS [GIS] PROVIDED BY USGS, USACE, NOAA, USDA