Last year, the Puerto Rico Re_Start Project was started to help after the devastation of Hurricanes Irma and Maria.
Architecture professor Martha Kohen spearheaded this effort and went to Puerto Rico last March along with colleagues and students.
This mission was so successful that they decided to do it again. Puerto Rico Re_Start 2 was held Mar. 22-30.
Puerto Rico Re_Start 2 was organized by the University of Florida Center for Hydro-generated Urbanism here in our college along with the Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico. Kohen co-directed this event.
This workshop addressed the resiliency for the future of the Puerto Rican islands, with expected consequences beyond them to the Virgin Islands, Guadalupe, Dominica, Barbuda, Haiti and more.
There were three main sections of the Puerto Rico Re_Start 2 Workshop: research round tables, public evening lecture series and design laboratories.
The research round tables gathered data and prioritized research objectives. The public evening lecture series showcased incoming contributors and successful initiatives and case studies. The design laboratories convened interdisciplinary expertise into integrated proposals.
“Projects were formulated for addressing the new economic drivers, the planning of the river basins, the coastal plains and coastal erosion, the relocation of floodable neighborhoods, transportation innovation and the eco-transformation of the existing neighborhoods,” Kohen said. “Besides the 30 UF students that participated, multiple Puerto Rican students and professors contributed to the relevant results.”
These results will be made available at www.puertoricorestart.org.
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