Staying in Place: Designing for Community Resilience

The studio and seminar were framed to engage students in concepts of resilience across different scales and through outreach with community members and others. The concept of “staying in place” expresses a response to catastrophic events as well as a claim to one’s local community. Drawing upon this duality, the studio investigated design for community resilience at the Mount Baker Light Rail Station Area. The development of this light rail station, SDOT’s strategies for “Accessible Mount Baker,” and other emerging initiatives provided a robust foundation.

The studio and seminar focused on defining dimensions of community resilience to support “staying in place.” Working with local stakeholders, the studio drew from relevant theory and precedents to propose opportunities within and beyond the neighborhood in the context of current planning initiatives, anticipated development opportunities, and potential upheavals to existing systems.

Learn more about the studio at bakerhub.be.washington.edu.