SCAPE and Kate Orff win 2023 OBEL AWARD for ‘radical breakwaters design’

The Living Breakwaters scheme consists of 2,400 linear feet of near-shore breakwaters: Structures built of stone and ecologically enhanced concrete with a variety of features, including reef ridges and reef streets that provide habitat space for marine species. The project was developed by SCAPE for Rebuild by Design, a design competition led by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Beyond the breakwater infrastructure, the project also incorporates educational and engagement-related programming designed to “advance community stewardship, citizen science, and recreation along the water’s edge.” In its totality, the jury praised the scheme as a “visionary green infrastructure project" that “reduces risk, revives ecologies, and connects people to the shoreline."

“Breakwaters is an ancient idea for how to protect shorelines — and the people who live close to them — by building underwater seawalls to defend a harbor or a beach from the force of waves,” jury chair Martha Schwartz said in a statement. “Kate has designed an extraordinary, modern-day interpretation, the Living Breakwaters, which will not only protect humans and revitalize the coastline of New York City but also restore lost marine biodiversity. This is a visionary project that tackles the full task of adaptation, and which has the capacity to inspire and to positively impact vulnerable shorelines worldwide.”

The prize was awarded to SCAPE by a jury comprising Martha Schwartz (Martha Schwartz Partners), Kjetil Trædal Thorsen (Snøhetta), XU Tiantian (DnA), Dr. Wilhelm Vossenkuhl (Prof. em. Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München), Sumayya Vally (Counterspace), Louis Becker (Henning Larsen), and Aric Chen (Nieuwe Instituut).