ARCTIC DESIGN GROUP

ABOUT THE ARCTIC DESIGN GROUP  — 

The Arctic is a heterogeneous and rapidly transforming region that is at the frontline of climate extremes and climate change. Permafrost thaw, urbanization pressures, geopolitical and ecological tensions are just a few examples of changes that are already well underway, and these shifts have global-scale societal and environmental implications while directly impacting the livelihoods of people who call the Arctic home. Formed in 2013 at the UVA School of Architecture, the Arctic Design Group (ADG) is a design research lab that addresses critical challenges in the region by working with partners across disciplines, sectors, institutions and community organizations. The synergy between architecture and landscape architecture firmly grounds much of the ADG’s multifaceted and action-oriented work—from geospatial analyses and exhibitions to science- and data-driven design and planning guidelines. The ADG is a founding member of the University of Virginia’s Arctic Research Center (UVA-ARC). 

ADG DIRECTORS —

Leena Cho, Associate Professor, Landscape Architecture [lcho@virginia.edu]
Matthew Jull, Associate Professor, Architecture [mjull@virginia.edu]

SPONSORS —

U.S. National Science Foundation, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, American Geophysical Union, U.S. Embassy in Reykjavik, World Bank, La Biennale di Venezia, Anchorage Museum, Rotch Foundation, Graham Foundation, One Week Architecture, UVA Office of the Vice President for Research, UVA Jefferson Trust, UVA Center for Inquiry and Innovation, UVA Environmental Institute, UVA Institute for the Humanities and Global Cultures, UVA School of Architecture Office of the Dean

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CURRENT RESEARCH PROJECTS AT THE ARCTIC DESIGN GROUP —

Permafrost Management for Community Health and Resilience

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Funded by the EPA’s Community Change Grant Program and facilitated by the UVA team, this project will support the implementation of nine critical infrastructure improvements that are designed to increase climate resilience and reduce pollution in Utqiaġvik, Alaska. The activities are: 1) conduct a comprehensive drainage study of the city to inform stormwater infrastructure upgrades and management, 2) implement these upgrades to better respond to increased precipitation, meltwater discharge, flooding and associated permafrost degradation, 3) connect unserviced homes to modern water and sewer system to improve sanitation and public health, 4) conduct a comprehensive feasibility study for PFAS remediation and removal and 5) algae bloom mitigation to project the city’s drinking water lagoon, 6) upgrade and expand critical heavy-duty maintenance vehicles and tools that are better equipped for Arctic conditions and occupational safety, 7) expand workforce development programs to build and retain knowledge and create jobs in infrastructure and permafrost management, 8) enable stabilization of traditional ice cellars by installing thermosyphons with an upgraded drill rig, and 9) reduce or prevent flooding at the city’s only operating cemetery by restoring hydrological functionality of tundra.

UVA team: Leena Cho (Landscape Architecture; PI & principal project manager), Matthew Jull, PhD (Architecture; co-PI), Howard Epstein, PhD (Environmental Sciences; co-PI), Caitlin Wylie, PhD (Engineering and Society; co-PI), Hannah Bradley, PhD (Engineering and Society; project associate)

Project partners: Barrow Utilities and Electric Cooperative Inc, North Slope Borough Department of Public Works, Inupiat Community of Arctic Slope, City of Utqiaġvik, University of Alaska Fairbanks Arctic Infrastructure Development Center

Location: Utqiaġvik (Barrow), Alaska 
Duration: 2025-2028 
Funding: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; $20M 

Understanding and Managing Impacts of Snow & Water on Permafrost in Arctic Communities

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Accelerating changes in the Arctic environment, combined with a limited capacity of many smaller communities to respond and adapt to these changes, have constrained the ability of Arctic communities to mitigate adverse impacts of permafrost degradation. To respond to these challenges, our research team will address the following questions by partnering with community partners in Utqiaġvik and the North Slope region, AK: 1) how is climate change altering snow and surface water dynamics in the Arctic communities, and what are the associated spatiotemporal patterns?; 2) what are the implications of snow and water dynamics change for ground temperature and moisture regimes, and ultimately their effects on the depth of the active layer and the stability of the permafrost?; 3) how can we effectively use traditional and institutional knowledge in combination with field environmental sensing, remote sensing, and hydrological modeling to better understand these physical and social system processes, and promote solutions that work for the community members?; and 4) what design, planning, and maintenance strategies can be developed to enhance the longer-term stability of the underlying permafrost, while promoting ecological and cultural vitality?

UVA team: Leena Cho (Landscape Architecture; co-PI), Matthew Jull, PhD (Architecture; co-PI), Howard Epstein, PhD (Environmental Sciences; PI), Caitlin Wylie, PhD (Engineering and Society; co-PI), Hannah Bradely, PhD (Engineering and Society; postdoctoral research associate)

Research + community partners: TRIBN, Ukpeagvik Inupiat Corporation, North Slope Borough, USACE Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory

Location: Utqiaġvik (Barrow) and North Slope Borough, Alaska 
Duration: 2025-2028 
Funding: University of Virginia Environmental Institute; $1.5M   

Arctic, Climate, and Earthquakes: Seismic Resilience and Adaptation of Arctic Infrastructure and Social Systems amid Changing Climate

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The state of Alaska and many other areas of the Arctic are seismically active, experiencing thousands of earthquakes with different magnitudes every year. Given the vulnerability of the Arctic to earthquakes and the accelerating environmental and social changes, it is critical to evaluate the resiliency of the region’s infrastructure to seismic events in the context of the natural environment, built environment, and social systems and understand how these changes interact and impact the region’s preparedness and response to earthquakes. The overarching goals of this NNA Collaborative Research project are to: 1) improve the fundamental understanding of the impact of Arctic changes on the region’s preparedness and response to future earthquakes through seismic monitoring/modeling, community engagement, and targeted investigations of the interactions between the relevant components of the natural environment, built environment, and social systems; and 2) enhance the seismic resilience of Arctic communities by providing them with the necessary training and tools to manage future earthquake-related disasters including planning, design, preparedness, mitigation, and recovery.

UVA team: Matthew Jull, PhD (Architecture; PI), Leena Cho (Landscape Architecture).

NNA Collaboratory team: University of New Hampshire, University of Georgia, Pennsylvania State University, University of Alaska Fairbanks

Research + community partners: Copper River Native Association, Rainrace-Iceland, AKDOT, Port of AK, AK-DHSEM, ASHSC, Alaska EQ Center, USACE-CRREL, Golder Associates, GEUS-Greenland, DPRI-Japan

Location: Copper River region, Alaska (for design) 
Duration: 2023-2027 
Funding: U.S. National Science Foundation; $199,958 / $3M total

Measuring Urban Sustainability in Transition: Co-Designing Future Arctic Cities in the Anthropocene (“MUST”)

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The Arctic is rapidly changing across the natural, built, and social environments in ways that put significant pressures on developing and implementing sustainability efforts in northern cities. This NNA Collaborative is driven by the following overarching question: How can community-defined sustainability indicators help policy makers develop effective governance systems and redesign the built infrastructure to meet the challenges of a changing environment and economy? By investigating the methods of collection and integration of natural, social and built environment data to devise indicators and evaluating planning and policy frameworks for sustainability in selected cities across the circumpolar north, the research aims to generate mechanisms for developing policy and design principles that can best meet the cities’ challenges.

UVA team: Matthew Jull, PhD (Architecture; PI), Leena Cho (Landscape Architecture), Aleksandra Durova (Urban Planning / UVA Environmental Institute Climate Fellow)

NNA Collaboratory team: George Washington University, University of Alaska, University of Northern Iowa

Location: Fairbanks, Alaska; Yellowknife, Canada; Luleå, Sweden
Duration: 2021-2026 
Funding: U.S. National Science Foundation; $771,434 / $4,638,821 total

Understanding the Changing Natural-Built Landscape in an Arctic Community: An Integrated Sensor Network in Utqiagvik, Alaska

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This highly interdisciplinary and community-driven research is located in Utqiagvik, Alaska and has three key objectives: 1) to characterize and understand how urban system components (buildings and infrastructure) interact with the surrounding air, ground, and water conditions via the deployment of micro-meteorological and aquatic sensors and geotechnical surveys; 2) to apply sensor data to generate environmental design analyses and design toolkits to address how current and future design and management of Utqiaġvik’s built environment can be improved; and 3) to study how our research team and Utqiaġvik partners communicate across disciplines and cultures to co-produce knowledge that is useful for residents and that informs science, social science and design process.

UVA team: Matthew Jull, PhD (Architecture; co-PI), Leena Cho (Landscape Architecture; co-PI), Howard Epstein, PhD (Environmental Sciences; PI), Caitlin Wylie, PhD (Engineering and Society; co-PI), Hannah Bradely, PhD (Engineering and Society; Postdoc), MacKenzie Nelson (Environmental Sciences, PhD candidate), Mirella Shaban (Environmental Sciences; PhD candidate), Valentina Ekimova (Environmental Sciences / Postdoc & UVA Environmental Institute Climate Fellow)

Research Collaborators: Luis Felipe Murillo (University of Notre Dame, Anthropology; co-PI), Tobias Gerken (James Madison University, Integrated Science and Technology), Claire Griffin (Allegheny College, Environmental Sciences & Sustainability)

Research + community partners: North Slope Borough, Barrow Utilities and Electric Cooperative Inc, Arctic Slope Native Association, Taġiuġmiullu Nunamiullu Housing Authority, TRIBN, Ukpeagvik Inupiat Corporation, USACE Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL), U.S. Department of Energy National Renewable Energy Research Laboratory (NREL)

Location: Utqiaġvik (Barrow), Alaska 
Duration: 2021-2025 
Funding: U.S. National Science Foundation; $3M 

ADG STUDIOS (2013 - 2025) —

ARCTIC DESIGN GROUP’S SELECTED FUNDED TRAVELING STUDIOS 

The ADG has been bringing students in architecture and landscape architecture to various parts of the Arctic since 2015. The funded trips are typically organized as part of traveling design studios sponsored by numerous research and cultural organizations. We will continue to bring undergraduate and graduate students to the Arctic for them to learn from one of the most dynamic and rapidly changing regions on Earth and participate in highly collaborative design research informing science and community action.

*Note: Upcoming traveling studios in AY 2025-26, 2026-27 and 2027-28 will be funded by the UVA Environmental Institute.

CITY BUILT ON THAWING GROUND

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Studio traversing the neighborhood in Browerville. Image: L. Cho / ADG Studio, 2024

A 6-credit research studio offered in Fall 2024 for undergraduate architecture (ARCH 4010) and graduate-level architecture and landscape architecture students (ALAR 8010). Co-led and taught by ADG directors. 
Location: Utqiaġvik, Alaska
Studio trip date:  9/29/2024~10/6/2024
Studio trip sponsor: U.S. National Science Foundation 

NAVIGATING THE NEW ARCTIC

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Studio looking toward the frozen Arctic Ocean. Image: P. Tamminen / ADG Studio, 2023

A 6-credit research studio offered in Winter/Spring 2023 for graduate-level architecture and landscape architecture students (ALAR 8020). Co-led and taught by ADG directors.

Location: Fairbanks and Utqiaġvik, Alaska
Studio trip date:  2/23/2023~3/3/2023
Studio trip sponsor: U.S. National Science Foundation 

GROUND

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View of Barrow town center. Image: L. Cho / ADG Studio, 2020

A 6-credit research studio offered in Winter/Spring 2020 for graduate-level architecture and landscape architecture students (ALAR 8010). Co-led and taught by ADG directors. 

Location: Fairbanks and Utqiagvik, AK
Studio trip date:  2/20/2020~3/1/2020
Studio trip sponsor: U.S. National Science Foundation, The Anchorage Museum, and the UVA School of Architecture.
 

ALTERED STATES: EXPERIMENTS IN DESIGN FOR EXTREME COLD CLIMATES

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View of Housing Prototype in Utqiagvik. Image: M. Jull / ADG Studio, 2017

A 6-credit research studio offered in Fall 2017 for undergraduate architecture, and graduate-level architecture and landscape architecture students (ALAR 8010). Led by ADG directors. 

Location: Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Utqiagvik, AK
Studio trip date:  9/22/2017~10/1/2017
Studio trip sponsor: UVA Center for Global Inquiry and Innovation, The Anchorage Museum, and the UVA School of Architecture.

NORTHERN FUTURES IN SVALBARD

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Studio in Barentsburg, a coal mining town in Svalbard. Image: M. Johnson / ADG Studio, 2015

A 6-credit research studio offered in Fall 2015 for undergraduate architecture (ARCH 4010) and graduate-level architecture and landscape architecture students (ALAR 8010). Co-led and taught by ADG directors. 

Location: Longyearbyen, Barentsburg, and Pyramiden in Svalbard, Norway
Studio trip date: 10/7/2015~10/17/2015
Studio trip sponsor: Rotch Foundation, UVA Center for Global Inquiry and Innovation