How can architects design for coastal inundation caused by climate change, what are the methods and strategies currently being implemented as a response to coastal inundation, and how can these strategies influence the design approach for a self-sustaining community that can survive and thrive in a low-lying coastal area? Climate change is caused by an expenditure of planet-harming resources being improperly or inefficiently utilized and consumed. This can lead to a rise of global sea level and an increased severity of storm surges. Resilience is defined as the ability to overcome challenges and difficulties. Coastal resilience is the ability for a coastal community to independently withstand shocks caused by hazardous storms and coastal flooding, adapt to future occurrences, and rebuild when necessary. Incorporating resilient and adaptable design elements into architecture could help to create a more sustainable built environment that reacts more efficiently to challenges and difficulties that occur in the natural world. The intent of this thesis is to design a coastal community-living development that serves as a case study for how communities in low-lying areas can be elevated in order to sustain fluctuating coastal conditions. An ideal setting for the implementation of this thesis is Pleasure Beach Park, a low-lying barrier beach located on the coastline of Bridgeport, Connecticut. Through research and analysis of this location, this design responds to and includes essential programmatic elements deemed necessary for a community to exist in the area, as well as vital attributes that collectively form a resilient coastal community.

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