Isabelle Chang

The title of this project is a recognition of fact: Red Hook floods; it always has, and it always will. Red Hook was once a saltwater marshland containing scattered islands of more stable ground. Now it is filled with engineered land, but the water still finds its level, and so Red Hook floods.

"Red Hook floods" can also be read as a noun phrase, as in "Hurricane Sandy was one of the worst of the Red Hook floods." Hurricane Sandy was a particularly destructive flood, combining sea level rise with a high tide and a massive storm surge. Sandy is regarded as the quintessential Red Hook flood—until the next one comes along.

My project begins with these twin realities: Red Hook floods, and floods in Red Hook can be so severe that the neighborhood's name is given to the event.

Floods, however, are episodic. There are days, weeks, months, and years between floods. And while precipitation and sea level rise are both increasing, one must also design for the days with other conditions. My project, therefore, addresses what happens before, during, and after a flood and in the everyday.