Littoral Multiplicity
Grace Andrews and Yuan-An Ju, Assoc. AIA
Rice University
“The way it plays between the interface of land [and] water—the making of land through the infrastructure—hints at the complex ecologies of this place and the fact that any intervention we make as humans transforms landscapes and ecologies.”
— Lola Sheppard
The Galveston seawall, which separates and raises 10 miles of the island from the sea, is a concrete wall supported by timber piles at risk of exposure and rotting due to erosion. What if littoral protection could happen through fragmentation instead of with a fixed wall? In this proposal, a multiplicity of smaller, porous walls is used to protect the beach from erosion. It works with the longshore current to collect sediment over time and form a living coastline that absorbs the shocks of storm surge before they reach the island. Mangroves and oysters filter the storm drains that release rainwater into the gulf. The shoreline connects unincorporated green spaces and parks and bridges the education, tourism, and maritime industries.