LTC 147-2017 Harvard University's Graduate School Design, Office for Urbanization PartnershipMIAMIBEACH
City of Miami Beach, 1700 Convention Center Drive, Miami Beach, Florida 33139, www.miamibeachfl.gov
Jimmy L. Morales, City Manager
Tel: 305- 673 -7010 , Fax: 305- 673 -7782
NO. LTC # 147 -2017
TO: Mayor Philip Levine and Members i the City C
FROM: Jimmy L. Morales, City Manager
DATE: March 17, 2017
SUBJECT: Harvard University's Graduate Schoo of Design, Office for Urbanization Partnership
LETTER TO COMMISSION
mission
I am pleased to provide an update on the City's partnership with the Harvard University's Graduate
School of Design, Office for Urbanization (GSD) and the milestones this collaboration has achieved
to date.
In May 2015, the City of Miami Beach entered into a two -year partnership with the Harvard GSD for
a series of sponsored design studios to study the impacts of and potential responses to sea level
rise in coastal communities like Miami Beach. The multi -year research project, aims to examine the
implications of rising sea levels and increased storm events on our city's economy, ecology,
infrastructure, and community identity. The studios have engaged Harvard faculty members and
researchers, as well as other leading academics and professionals in architecture, landscape
architecture, urban design, planning, engineering, ecology, law and other related disciplines toward
developing planning strategies that anticipate potential future scenarios and mitigate present
threats.
Above: Harvard faculty members and researchers with City staff during a studio presentation.
Harvard GSD Partnership Update
March 17, 2017
Page 2 of 3
Key highlights to date include:
2015-2016 Academic Year
• A research seminar on resource interconnections and a graduate design studio focusing on
innovative solutions for adaptation options within the next 30 years.
• A day -long conference hosted by Harvard GSD at the Wolfsonian attended by academics
from Harvard, the University of Miami, Florida Atlantic University and Florida International
University.
2015- 2017Academic Year
• Design and research course work focused on three related sub - themes:
o The legal and policy framework for adaptation (Harvard Law School);
o The context of real estate development in relation to adaptation (Harvard Real
Estate Field Study); and,
o The role of architectural preservation in the context of adaptation (Harvard GSD
Critical Conservation Program).
o Architectural and urban innovations design
Above: Draft recommendations during a studio presentation included above - ground water storage.
All the coursework and research materials developed as part of this research project will be
synthesized in the summer of 2017 into a set of recommendations. The larger research findings,
and associated research products will be combined in a research report that will be published by
Harvard GSD Partnership Update
March 17, 2017
Page 3 of 3
Harvard GSD in the fall of 2017 and presented in a public event in Miami Beach before the end of
October 2017.
JLM /SMT /MKW /FCT