Material Memory

This project envisions a new type of working waterfront for Wachapreague, Virginia. A small town on the seaside of the Eastern shore, it is unique in its vulnerability to inundation and by 2080 most of the town is projected to be inundated year-round. This reality calls for a strategic planned retreat strategy that allows for departure with dignity. This work considers deconstruction as a ritualized process of retreat that embeds meaning into the spaces of the Eastern shore that are left behind while promoting a localized cycle of material reuse. Rather than awaiting a state of abandonment or destruction from a storm event the disassembly process allows the space and time to carefully reconcile with the material elements of everyday life, deciding what stays and what will depart with the community to higher ground. The site of the town’s only restaurant will become a deconstruction depot and a gathering space for reunion as residents move away. The strength in the Eastern Shore is its small but strong communities and the deep connection to place that residents have. The resilient infrastructure in this project favors these strengths without holding onto a status quo- living in low lying areas- that is unsustainable.