Judy Huynh

Dezeen: The US Housing and Urban Development launched Rebuild by Design, under the America Competes Act, calling for international, interdisciplinary design teams at the centre of rebuilding between local governments, the private sector and community interests.

NY Times: The superstorm prompted a novel initiative by the Obama administration to jump-start projects in and around New York that would fortify coastlines and, in the process, improve the social fabric and public space of targeted neighborhoods. The city and state embraced, among other projects, a proposal that focused on a lengthy swath of

Wallpaper: Government responses to disasters have also resulted in architecture focused on future mitigation. In June 2013, just 8 months after Hurricane Sandy flooded 17% of New York City destroying or damaging 650,000 homes, President Obama’s Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force launched Rebuild by Design, a competition in partnership with US housing and Urban Development

Inside Climate News: The forecast already has proof of being true, as Vermont is now one of the top 10 states in declaring federal disasters from extreme weather, despite being one of the smallest and least populated. A February study from Rebuild by Design shows that Washington County, Vermont—which includes Plainfield, Barre and the state’s

The Cool Down: Elsewhere, policymakers and researchers are working on long-term solutions, such as updating building codes, restoring wetlands to absorb storm surge, and supporting a shift to cleaner energy to slow the warming trend. Groups like Rebuild by Design and Resilient Cities Catalyst are helping communities plan for more resilient infrastructure.

NY Daily News: What if Pizza Rat told New Yorkers to check their subway route for possible closures before or during heavy rains. Mr. Met could impress the importance of signing up for “Notify NYC” — the NYC Office of Emergency Management alert program, for real-time warnings, available in 14 languages. Or the New York

Interesting Engineering: The $60M federal grant (Rebuild by Design) plus state funds yielded a ~$107–111M project (in 2020 dollars). Civil contractor Weeks Marine built the features, with construction breaking ground in September 2021, and the construction was completed by October 2024. Performance: Although final monitoring results are pending, hydrodynamic models show that the breakwaters greatly

North Jersey: According to Rebuild by Design’s Atlas of Disaster: New Jersey, the state has experienced 14 federally declared major disasters due to extreme weather from 2011 to 2024 — most due to flooding and storms — and is ranked fifth in the country for highest per capita FEMA support. Every county has had five

Katie Couric: “Trump has come out with his guns blazing against FEMA,” New York University’s Rebuild By Design director Amy Chester tells us. “But you don’t have to get rid of something a hundred percent to fix it.”

Spectrum News TX: “FEMA is frontline aid for states across the country,” said Amy Chester, director of Rebuild by Design, a New York University-based nonprofit that has been helping communities adapt to climate change ever since Hurricane Sandy.