Design for Resilience: Learning from Rebuild by Design

Natural disasters and their devastating aftermath are increasingly common for many communities around the world. One recent example, 2012’s Hurricane Sandy, affected millions of people across the northeast coast of the United States and became the second most expensive natural disaster in the country’s history. Rather than simply reconstruct what had existed before the storm, or rely on conventional strategies of disaster management, the scale of the devastation led to an increasing awareness that new approaches must be considered. Rebuild By Design, a pioneering initiative by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development that connects the world’s most talented researchers and designers with the Sandy-affected area’s active businesses, policymakers and local groups, was formed out of this thinking.

SPUR’s latest exhibition focuses on the outcome of the Rebuild By Design work: concepts envisioned by ten international, interdisciplinary teams that seek to increase the resilience of affected communities in preparation for a changing world.