The Charles River Watershed Association, the Neponset River Watershed Association, and the Mystic River Watershed Association invite you to participate in an effort to make our community more climate resilient. If you see street or sidewalk flooding in Boston, let them know. By visiting bit.ly/floodsurveyboston and completing a brief form with a photo (a less than perfect shot from your phone is just fine!), the City of Boston Office of Green Infrastructure will develop a map of flood-impacted areas to inform policy decisions and design flood mitigation efforts. You may spot a corner drain that always overflows, a dip in the sidewalk that becomes a pond in heavy rain, or something much more significant, but please do report it. Add the link to notes on your phone so you have it the instant you see something.
Save the date, Monday April 29 from 6 – 7, for an online presentation by the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay Green Committee, followed by a Q & A with Emily Norton, Executive Director of the Charles River Watershed Association, who will discuss the threat of flooding in the Back Bay and what steps can be taken to mitigate our increasingly extreme weather. Email info@nabbonline.org for the Zoom link.
The Harvard Graduate School of Design will host a free lecture on November 3 at 6:30 pm in the Piper Auditorium of Gund Hall in Cambridge with James A. Lord and Roderick Wyllie of Surfacedesign.
Surfacedesign is a landscape architecture and urban design firm based in San Francisco, California. This internationally award-winning practice focuses on creating dynamic parks, campuses, plazas, waterfronts, civic landscapes and private gardens. The firm’s approach emphasizes and celebrates the unique context and imaginative potential of each project. The studio’s design process is rooted in asking novel questions and listening to a site and its users – a process that has led to engaging and inspiring landscapes that are rugged, contemporary, and crafted.
Increasingly, water has become a central focus of all landscape interventions. Holistic, systems-based design thinking that actively engages water extremes—from drought to flooding/sea level rise— is at the core of Surfacedesign’s practice. Challenging the formal manifestations of municipal guidelines and standards for water management, each project engages water as an integral design element. James and Roderick will share a range of work from the residential to the infrastructural. These works celebrate water systems and explore how planting, topography and cultural narratives can reinforce water resiliency.
James A. Lord is a founding partner of Surfacedesign, Inc. James’ innovative design approach and stewardship of the firm’s design practice has established Surfacedesign as an international leader in urban design and sustainability. He leads projects in New Zealand, Hawaii, Mexico, Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area. James received his MLA from the Harvard Graduate School of Design and his BARCH from the University of Southern California.
Roderick Wyllie is an award-winning landscape architect and a founding partner of Surfacedesign, Inc. Roderick has led a variety of complex projects within the office, including the Uber Campus in Mission Bay, San Francisco’s Bayfront Park, The Land’s End Visitor Center, The Barnacles at Pier 9 and Expedia Global Headquarters in Seattle. His horticultural knowledge and passion for material authenticity reinforce craftsmanship and attention to detail into each project at Surfacedesign.
Anyone requiring accessibility accommodations should contact the events office at (617) 496-2414 or events@gsd.harvard.edu.
