A multidisciplinary team of faculty and students in architecture, landscape architecture, and civil engineering at the Louisiana State University Coastal Sustainability Studio recently placed as finalists for the 2013 ONE Prize Award.

The ONE Prize is an annual design and science award that aims to explore the social, economic, and ecological possibilities of urban transformation. The 2013 ONE Prize focused on severe climate dynamism (inspired by Superstorm Sandy in 2012) and called upon architects, landscape architects, engineers, ecologists, urban planners, and designers to “stormproof” cities with competent planning and ecologically sound, socially responsible design solutions.

Twenty projects were chosen as finalists from 168 teams from over 15 countries and five continents. The projects submitted tackled topics from coastal protection to aerial living environments and covered the United States, from Miami to San Francisco, and the world, from Mexico to Sumatra. The winners were announced in late November.

The LSU team’s entry, “Synthetic Mudscapes,” looked at the potential to protect the Mississippi Delta through land building. Links between urban environments and economic drives have constrained the dynamic landscape for generations and are now threatening to undermine the ecological fitness of the entire region. Static methods of measuring, controlling, and valuing land are failing in an environment that is constantly in flux. Multiple land-building practices reintroduce deltaic fluctuation and the strategic deposition of fertile material to form the foundations of a multilayered defense strategy.

Congratulations to the team members and project leaders—Jeff Carney, director of the Coastal Sustainability Studio and associate professor at the School of Architecture; Bradley Cantrell, associate professor and director of the Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture; and Liz Williams, Coastal Sustainability Studio research fellow and graduate of the LSU School of Architecture.

Visit oneprize.org for more information.

About the Coastal Sustainability Studio
The Coastal Sustainability Studio is housed in the LSU College of Art + Design and directed by School of Architecture Associate Professor Jeffrey Carney. CSS was conceived as a trans-disciplinary laboratory to develop new strategies that reduce risk to social, economic, and natural resources. Scientists, engineers, and designers come together to intensively study and respond to issues of settlement, coastal restoration, flood protection, and the economy. Visit css.lsu.edu for more information.

Contact
Angela Harwood
Communications Coordinator
LSU College of Art + Design
102 Design Building
Baton Rouge, LA 70803
225-578-9041
aharwood@lsu.edu