\u201cThese towns are so small \u2013 the population is usually less than 20,000,\u201d said Travis Klondike, a full-time research associate in the CDDL and an assistant professor of the practice in the College of Design\u2019s Department of Landscape Architecture. \u201cThey may not have city staff in the design and planning realms, and may not have funding for external firms. They wouldn\u2019t otherwise have access to these resources.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The CDDL was co-founded by Andrew Fox, professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture, and David Hill, professor and head of the School of Architecture, and initially seeded through grant money that allowed the pair to conduct intensive studio courses with students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Philanthropy plays a key role in the lab\u2019s ongoing work. Donor support has provided funding for a research associate, internship and scholarship opportunities, which in turn empower the lab team to broaden its scope of work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today, the role of the CDDL can vary. The team might work with a town to relocate home owners in a neighborhood that floods repeatedly and then create a design that gives that land another purpose. Or, in Princeville \u2014 which sits in a flood plain \u2014 they can help local leaders and residents figure out ways to preserve the historical significance of the oldest town chartered by African Americans in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As Princeville leaders have worked to rebuild a history museum destroyed by Hurricane Matthew, the CDDL played an instrumental role in bringing NC State\u2019s School of Architecture Design\/Build Studio into the community to work on designing a mobile museum to allow Princeville to go on the road and share its history instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re always trying to look at creative ways to leverage the assets that every community has,\u201d Fox said. \u201cIt helps them become more resilient to environmental and economic shocks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The CDDL often responds in post-hazard situations, after events like hurricanes or flooding, Klondike said. Much of that work takes place in the coastal plains, where the group found the greatest social, economic and environmental need to be, he said. Their work ranges from high-level analysis \u2013 looking at entire cities, counties, states or even the Eastern Seaboard to understand specific vulnerabilities \u2013 down to working with local communities on changes to a specific parcel of land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re trying to get into proactive planning, not just reactionary,\u201d Fox said. \u201cWe want to create a vision that\u2019s 10, 20, even 100 years out \u2013 looking at what the environmental impacts could be if things stay the same or continue on a path of change as predicted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They do so with the input of community leaders and, as much as they are able, local residents, he said. The idea is to allow residents to define how they want their communities to move forward, rather than the CDDL team assuming it knows best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe bring in technical expertise to blend with that local knowledge,\u201d Fox said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, Klondike said the CDDL has been working in Lumberton since Hurricane Matthew hit in 2016. The effort began as a broad-level discussion of the various services the CDDL could provide, then focused on specific hot spots in the town that the CDDL and city staff identified together. In one neighborhood located in a flood plain, the NC State group is working with city leaders and residents to link 39 pieces of property together to create a new public park. City and state officials are developing a buy-out program for the homes on those properties, Klondike said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been hosting community workshops and meetings with residents in neighborhoods to show them proposals for how certain properties in their neighborhood might change as part of a buy-out program to relocate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The CDDL contributes with conceptual design and hydraulic modeling for the future park \u2013 which will serve not only as a park but as a \u201cgiant sponge\u201d to reduce flood risk, Fox said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe park really is the flood mitigation device,\u201d he said. \u201cWorking with engineers, it\u2019s been modeled such that the landscape serves as a machine that can absorb certain levels of flood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019re always trying to wrap in multiple levels of benefits. These projects represent investments for these communities, and we want to make sure we stretch every dollar.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n NC State students are on the coast as well. This spring, 25 students in the fields of architecture, landscape architecture and engineering worked together in the studio course, gaining real-world interaction and understanding of local communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThese are community-based, service learning projects that flatten the learning curve for these students as well because they have that exposure prior to landing in their professional life,\u201d Fox said. \u201cThey\u2019ve worked with stakeholders and they\u2019ve worked with clients.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition to the studio, six graduate students are engaged through the CDDL in various research projects in both architecture and landscape architecture, Fox said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The CDDL currently has no guaranteed funding outside of Fox\u2019s faculty line, with most of the current work done through funded projects such as sponsored or grant research, he said. Philanthropy has been essential over the years too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe wouldn\u2019t be where we are without private investment and philanthropic donations to our lab,\u201d Fox said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In fact, Klondike\u2019s full-time position was initially funded through philanthropy<\/a>, which in turn allows the CDDL to say yes to more work within communities, he said. The lab has also added a second full-time research associate \u2013 Madalyn Baldwin, who is a recent graduate of NC State\u2019s Master of Landscape Architecture program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Where grants tend to have a specific deliverable tied to them, a gift allows the CDDL to offer a scholarship, a research position or a summer internship, Fox said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt gives us the flexibility to bring students in, to provide meaningful experiences, and to be able to think outside the box and innovate,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Klondike points out that private funding means the CDDL can more proactively attract the best and the brightest minds in the fields of landscape architecture and architecture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s huge in recruitment,\u201d Fox agreed. \u201cIf we\u2019re able to offer a scholarship or a stipend, or financial incentive to students looking at other top programs, then they\u2019re going to bring those great minds and those great skills to the problems we\u2019re facing in our state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn their time here, they really contribute to us actively raising the bar in terms of how we\u2019re doing things in the built environment in North Carolina.\u201d<\/p>\n This post was originally published<\/a> in Giving News.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false,"raw":"\n\n\n\n\n Small towns in the United States' mid-Atlantic Coast region have been ravaged in recent years by hurricanes and flooding, and often have little funding in reserve to address the issues that follow behind these natural disasters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Recognizing a need, two College of Design faculty members at NC State established the Coastal Dynamics Design Lab<\/a> (CDDL) in 2013. Through the lab, an interdisciplinary research and design team helps communities recover<\/a> and plan for the future by bringing together architects, landscape architects, graphic designers, engineers, scientists and students to create a holistic approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThese towns are so small \u2013 the population is usually less than 20,000,\u201d said Travis Klondike, a full-time research associate in the CDDL and an assistant professor of the practice in the College of Design\u2019s Department of Landscape Architecture. \u201cThey may not have city staff in the design and planning realms, and may not have funding for external firms. They wouldn\u2019t otherwise have access to these resources.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The CDDL was co-founded by Andrew Fox, professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture, and David Hill, professor and head of the School of Architecture, and initially seeded through grant money that allowed the pair to conduct intensive studio courses with students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Philanthropy plays a key role in the lab\u2019s ongoing work. Donor support has provided funding for a research associate, internship and scholarship opportunities, which in turn empower the lab team to broaden its scope of work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, the role of the CDDL can vary. The team might work with a town to relocate home owners in a neighborhood that floods repeatedly and then create a design that gives that land another purpose. Or, in Princeville \u2014 which sits in a flood plain \u2014 they can help local leaders and residents figure out ways to preserve the historical significance of the oldest town chartered by African Americans in the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Princeville leaders have worked to rebuild a history museum destroyed by Hurricane Matthew, the CDDL played an instrumental role in bringing NC State\u2019s School of Architecture Design\/Build Studio into the community to work on designing a mobile museum to allow Princeville to go on the road and share its history instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019re always trying to look at creative ways to leverage the assets that every community has,\u201d Fox said. \u201cIt helps them become more resilient to environmental and economic shocks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The CDDL often responds in post-hazard situations, after events like hurricanes or flooding, Klondike said. Much of that work takes place in the coastal plains, where the group found the greatest social, economic and environmental need to be, he said. Their work ranges from high-level analysis \u2013 looking at entire cities, counties, states or even the Eastern Seaboard to understand specific vulnerabilities \u2013 down to working with local communities on changes to a specific parcel of land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe\u2019re trying to get into proactive planning, not just reactionary,\u201d Fox said. \u201cWe want to create a vision that\u2019s 10, 20, even 100 years out \u2013 looking at what the environmental impacts could be if things stay the same or continue on a path of change as predicted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n They do so with the input of community leaders and, as much as they are able, local residents, he said. The idea is to allow residents to define how they want their communities to move forward, rather than the CDDL team assuming it knows best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Community](\"https:\/\/campaign.ncsu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/06\/CDDL_Lumberton_2-scaled-e1592854477215-950x535.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"A](\"https:\/\/campaign.ncsu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/06\/CDDL_Lumberton_1-950x464.jpg\")
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