In the summer of 2024, I co-led a multidisciplinary team in UC Berkeley’s DISC (Design + Innovation for Sustainable Cities) program, focusing on innovative design solutions to address San Francisco’s rising sea levels. Our project, "Coming Full Circle," proposed a transformative approach to the Embarcadero waterfront, integrating climate adaptation measures with urban resilience.
Our intervention disrupts San Francisco’s rigid rectilinear grid by introducing organic infrastructure: a ribbon of inland canals, green roofs, and pedestrian-first blocks. These super-blocks integrate mobility hubs, water filtration wetlands, and community nodes.
This project marked a turning point in my path toward architecture. I had just graduated from my undergraduate program when I joined the DISC studio — my first formal experience in an architectural environment. Until then, I had been exploring different disciplines, searching for the kind of work that truly inspired me. Throughout that search, I kept returning to living wall installations, drawn to the idea of designing systems that merged nature and the built environment. It wasn’t until this program that I realized what I had been looking for was architecture all along.
Leading a team in this fast-paced studio environment reaffirmed my passion for sustainable design and for creating spaces that feel grounded and human. I gained hands-on exposure to professional tools like Rhino 3D and Adobe Creative Cloud (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and Aero), and I learned to communicate design ideas visually and spatially. Working with a multidisciplinary team challenged me to navigate different perspectives and problem-solving approaches — a dynamic that energized and pushed our proposal forward.
As part of the process, I conducted field visits and interviews with local planners, and ultimately presented our final proposal at a public forum. These experiences reinforced my belief in climate-resilient design and the importance of collaboration. Reframing San Francisco’s rigid grid wasn’t just a formal intervention — it was a way of reimagining how cities connect with land, water, and the communities that shape them.