"Well, the rails are washed out north of town/ We got to head for higher ground/ We can't come back till the water goes down/ Five feet high and risin'." Johnny Cash isn't wrong. But he's short sighted. The water won't go down.
Weston Wright sees water rising and asks how to live on it. Wright is not bailing. He has put together a new book called More Water, Less Land, New Architecture: Sea Level Rise and the Future of Coastal Urbanism that develops the concept of wet architecture and considers the urbanism that surrounds it. In this week's podcast, Ray Dubicki talks with Wright about the history of people resisting the higher tide and what we can learn from them as the water doesn't recede. Wet architecture is a reconsideration of everything, from materials to size to mobility. It sounds like a lot, but Wright comes from a core of optimism. These changes are possible, and these places very livable.
We want to know your thoughts, opinions, and what you do when blessed with a little more rain. Reach out to us at podcast [at] theurbanist.org.
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