Resilience & Design Thinking
In late August, the 130-mph winds of Hurricane Harvey rudely elbowed their way into Houston and greater Harris County, Texas, bringing with them 50 inches of rainfall. (Average annual August rainfall there is a little more than three inches.) In the earlier years of this century, Houston paved over a great deal of its porous land with roads, parking lots and strip malls. With nowhere to go, the sudden deluge seeped and oozed into every nook and crevice of the built environment while creating a toxic stew of sewage, excreta, and a cornucopia of pathogens just looking for open wounds to infect. A 31-year old carpenter and 77-year old mother, both helping others to clean out damaged living spaces, contracted necrotizing faciitis, a rapidly expanding flesh-eating bacteria. They died. Sven Govaars, then a workplace strategist in Gensler’s Houston office, was prompted to consider how his occupation with workplace design might …
Log in to Continue Reading
