The Mighty Rio Piedras River - Designing Resilience & New Life for San Juan’s River Corridor

The mighty Rio Piedras is the only true river in San Juan. Over 100,000 people live along its banks, with a larger municipality of 350,000 relying on its watershed as their primary source of drinking water. Nonetheless, the river has suffered from overdevelopment, pollution, and loss of its natural floodplain, causing contention between it and nearby neighborhoods. This capstone project investigates the riverside communities’ relationship with their river and charts a course for a hydrophilic design that embraces the river rather than seeking to contain and hide it. Learn about the history and demographics of this river corridor, the unique issues that its diverse residents face, and how conscientious design may address these obstacles and offer innovative solutions for a resilient and inclusive future.

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You can view our full project here.