Design with Diploria: Coral Infrastructure for a New Coastal Future

Abstract

The growing stressors of global climate change and urbanization have brought about the decline of one of our planet’s most critical biomes - coral reefs. As coral reefs vanish, we lose not only their surrounding ecologies and economics, but also the structural complexity that allows them to efficiently serve as natural breakwaters, which protect coastlines from flooding and erosion. Design with Diploria showcases a multi-site exploration of these entanglements within Miami’s urban context by working to restore an enigmatic, but diminished, local ecosystem as an infrastructural and social resilience strategy.