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Rebuild By Design> SCAPE's Living Breakwaters Transform Staten Island's South Shore

Rebuild By Design> SCAPE's Living Breakwaters Transform Staten Island's South Shore

In early April, the ten finalists in the Rebuild By Design competition unveiled their proposals to protect the Tri-state region from the next Sandy. And in the near future, a jury will select a winner—or winners—to receive federal funding to pursue their plans. But before that final announcement is made, AN is taking a closer look at each of the final ten proposals. Here’s SCAPE‘s plan for Staten Island’s South Shore.

Team SCAPE proposes a series of living breakwaters to protect Staten Island‘s South Shore, which was absolutely pummeled during Hurricane Sandy. The breakwaters—made partially from oysters—can clean water, reduce storm-surge, provide new habitats, and protect against coastal erosion.

The use of oysters would not only protect the South Shore, it would pay homage to the region’s history. As Kate Orff of SCAPE noted, the town of Tottenville, which is located in Phase One of her team’s project, was once known as “the town the oyster built.”

This plan would also create a “learning hub” in Tottenville to teach local communities about the benefits of oysters. “This new, layered infrastructure will clean and slow the water, catalyze the regrowth of protected ecosystems, and create an amazing textured environment for marine life, as well as shore-based communities to thrive in,” said Orff.

The team includes SCAPE/Landscape Architecture with Parsons Brinckerhoff, Dr. Philip Orton / Stevens Institute of Technology, Ocean & Coastal Consultants, SeArc Ecological Consulting, LOT-EK, MTWTF, The Harbor School and Paul Greenberg.

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