Resilient by Design/ Living Levee

Public Sediment Team
AEL Team: Evan Jones, Margaret Ikeda & Adam Marcus

Public Sediment was developed for the Resilient by Design Bay Area Challenge, a design competition that brings together local residents, public officials, and local, national and international experts to develop innovative solutions to the issues brought on by climate change in the Bay Area. CCA faculty Adam Marcus, Margaret Ikeda, and Evan Jones participated in a multi-disciplinary team on a year-long research and design collaboration focused on the Alameda Creek watershed in the East Bay. The design proposals built upon an earlier research phase and were presented to the public in May, 2018.

The AEL team led the development of a central component of the proposal, the Living Levee. The Living Levee is a multibenefit strategy for revetment design that integrates ecological principles within an interlocking concrete module that helps limit erosion and support the surrounding ecosystem. Holes of variable size provide spaces for vegetation to grow and establish root structures in the soil, while also providing cover for fish along the channel edge and variable, multiscalar habitats for animals and humans that enhance biodiversity and support the local food web.

For more information see the Architectural Ecologies website