The research argues that coastal resilience on barrier islands is produced through the protection of private property. It examines the impacts of rebuilding, reconstruction, infrastructure investment on the physical deterioration of the barrier island. The project proposes an alternative to status quo development that works with, not against, a dynamic landscape.

On barrier islands of the eastern seaboard, vacation homes occupy a majority of the land use, with properties held as financial assets rather than primary residences. With each successive storm as well as with the slow onset of sea level rise and accelerated sediment erosion, taxpayer dollars are disproportionally allocated towards the re-stabilization and reconstruction of damaged homes and infrastructure. The resilience of barrier islands points not to an ecological capacity to withstand system shocks, but rather to the persistence and preservation of capital in the form of private property in predictably volatile environments.

The primary case study takes place on Hatteras Island, NC; commonly known as the Outer Banks. The case study tests the viability of a Sand Trust, a nonprofit land trust, that promotes the phasing out of development by incentivizing coastal retreat. One of the tools proposed by the Sand Trust is a digital platform that integrates real estate investment data, historic erosion rates, and projected sea level rise to paint a more accurate portrait of climate risk and encourage land donations.

The project also visualizes the spatial and environmental impact retreat: the process of unbuilding, the transformation of land use from private houses to public open space, and the resulting dynamic landscape. By rethinking prevailing development logics, this project demonstrates how a barrier island can ultimately resume its ecological function as a coastal defense line.

This design research was awarded the Harvard Graduate School of Design Master in Design Studies Thesis Prize in 2019.

Hatteras Island, NC

Lines in the Sand

Dept. is a landscape architecture and urban design studio that provides creative, useful, and adaptive design responses for the public and the environment.