Designing with Water: Buoyant City, Salty Urbanism, and The Coastline

Overview

Designing with Water is an in-person panel exploring how Miami’s designers and planners are reimagining the city’s relationship with water.

As Miami faces rising seas and stronger storms, designers are re-imagining the city’s relationship with water. This session brings together three complementary frameworks, including Buoyant City, Salty Urbanism, and The Coastline. While grounded in the hard science of climate impacts and honest about the challenges ahead, the conversation is positive and hopeful. It explores how adaptation can inspire new architectural, ecological, and civic forms, demonstrating that resilience is not only about protection but also about creativity, identity, and connection.

Speakers

Allan Shulman, FAIA, LEED AP - Principal, Shulman + Associates and Professor, University of Miami School of Architecture

Buoyant City: This framework argues that historic preservation must be redeployed as an active, adaptive tool rather than a static restriction. It calls for Miami Beach’s historic districts to "evolve to…