A urban flood defense system for Manhattan by architects BIG and Dutch One Architecture are among six ideas chosen by Rebuild by Design, an initiative that's working to help protect US cities from flooding after Hurricane Sandy

Architecture practices BIG and Dutch One Architecture have designed a 10 mile long defense system that could protect Manhattan from storm surges such as the one that swept parts of New York and New Jersey in the wake of Hurricane Sandy.

Called the 'Big U', the system, which comprises parkland with raised landscaping to protect against surges of water, would run from West 57th Street south to The Battery and up to East 42nd Street, the Big U protects 10 continuous miles of low-lying geography that comprise an very dense, vibrant, but also vulnerable urban area.

The proposal is one of six ideas chosen by Rebuild by Design an initiative founded in 2013 as a response to Hurricane Sandy's devastations, and which calls for an innovative community- and policy-based solution to promote resilience in area affected by Hurricane Sandy.

As one of the six chosen concepts, the Big U project has been awarded $335 million.

According to the architects, the Big U would be made up of three compartments that function independently to provide flood protection. Each compartment would comprise a physically discrete flood-protection zone that can be isolated from flooding in adjacent zones. At the same time, each presents opportunities for integrated social and community planning. The compartments work in unison to protect and enhance the city, yet each compartment's proposal is designed to stand on its own.

Says Bjarke Ingels, a founding partner at BIG. 'The Big U is an example of what we call Social Infrastructure. The High Line shows how a decommissioned piece of infrastructure - the abandoned elevated railway - can be transformed into a public space and green landscape. We asked ourselves: What if we could envision the resilience infrastructure for Lower Manhattan in a way that wouldn't be like a wall between the city and the water, but rather a string of pearls of social and environmental amenities tailored to their specific neighborhoods, which also happens to shield their hinterlands from flooding. The Big U will not only make the waterfront more resilient but also more accessible and inviting to the citizens around it.'



