After reviewing dozens of Boston Living With Water proposals, a jury has selected nine finalists that will move on to compete for a $20,000 grand prize. The North End’s Prince Building is one of three focus sites along with the Fort Point neighborhood and Morrissey Boulevard in Dorchester. The climate change competition is intended to develop strategies for rising sea levels from now to the year 2100 when the tide in Boston Harbor is expected to be 3 to 6 feet higher. The joint initiative is sponsored by the City of Boston, The Boston Harbor Association and the Boston Society of Architects with funding by the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management and Barr Foundation. The three finalists that looked at the Prince Building (63 Atlantic Avenue) are shown below. See all the finalists at BostonLivingWithWater.org.
[hr]
“The Prince Building Piers” – Rather than trying to prevent seawater from entering the city, this proposal welcomes the water and surrenders the outer streetscapes to a new urban seashore that is a focus of recreation, ecological reclamation, and new cultural experiences.
[hr]
“Water FUN(d)” – Dubbed the Future Underwater Neighborhood district, or FUN(d), this proposal establishes a goal of creating a new urban area that skillfully interacts with an influx of water on an on-going basis. The team suggests that this plan could be accomplished, at least in part, by drawing on revenue from Boston’s tourism economy.

[hr]
“No Building is an Island” – One of the most creative aspects of this proposal is the Resilience Report Card, a simple, user-friendly method that would indicates a building’s vulnerability and allow the city to map risk and target investments.

The finalists are expected to submit more extensive plans by the end of May. Follow the climate change competition on Twitter at @BostonLwW.