1st Edition

Climate Adaptation for Architects A Design Toolkit

By Allison Anderson Copyright 2026
394 Pages 194 Color Illustrations
by Routledge

394 Pages 194 Color Illustrations
by Routledge

394 Pages 194 Color Illustrations
by Routledge

Architecture must adapt to protect people from the threat of climate change. About half of the world’s population lives in contexts that are highly vulnerable to climate change as hazards continue to intensify, with global disasters projected to reach 560 events per year by 2030, or 1.5 events every day. The accelerating frequency and intensity of disasters underscores the urgency to prepare for... Read more

INTRODUCTION Part 1. HEAT  1. HEAT RESPONSE NETWORKS  2. POLICY OF SHADE  3. URBAN COOLING WITH WATER  4. COOL CORRIDORS  5. REFLECTIVE + ABSORPTIVE SITES  6. WILDFIRE PROTECTION  7. AIR QUALITY  8. PASSIVE DESIGN, PASSIVE SURVIVABILITY  9. SOLAR CONTROL  10. COOL ENVELOPE  11. BUILDING ELECTRIFICATION 12. UNINTERRUPTIBLE POWER Part 2. WATER  13. TOPOGRAPHY + RISK  14. RETREAT + REALIGNMENT  15. NEARSHORE BREAKWATERS  16. MODULAR REVETMENTS  17. SEAWALLS, FLOODWALLS, LEVEES + BERMS 18. INFILTRATION ZONES, RIPARIAN BUFFERS + LIVING SHORELINES  19. ELEVATED ROADWAYS  20. RECONNECTING WATER  21. THE ELEVATED COMMONS  22. FLOOD BARRIERS + GATES  23. CORNICHE  24. ELEVATION  25. WET + DRY FLOODPROOFING  26. FLOATING STRUCTURES  Part 3. WIND  27. WIND ANALYSIS  28. SPATIAL TEXTURE  29. TEMPORARY HOUSING  30. DEFENSIBLE LANDSCAPE  31. CONTINUOUS LOAD PATH  32. ENVELOPE + BREACH  33. COLLATERAL DAMAGE  34. SAFE ROOMS  35. EARTH SHELTER  36. EMERGENCY CACHE  Part 4. SCARCITY  37. BIODIVERSITY + ADAPTATION  38. EDIBLE CITIES  39. BOUNDARIES TO GROWTH  40. COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION AFTER DISASTER  41. SOCIAL CAPITAL + SOCIAL INFRASTRUCTURE  42. NET-ZERO WATER  43. CIRCULARITY  44. ADAPTABLE + ADAPTIVE  45. ANTIFRAGILE

Biography

Allison H. Anderson, FAIA, is the founding principal of unabridged Architecture, a firm recognized for incorporating sustainability, climate change adaptation, and resilience across a wide variety of project scales. Allison was the first LEED‑Accredited Professional in Mississippi, focused on sustainability. After Hurricane Katrina devastated her community, unabridged Architecture began exploring resilience and climate adaptation. Her research is included in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Natural Hazard Science, the AIA Resilient Project Process Guide, AIA Climate Action Playbook, and the AIA Framework for Design Excellence. Allison has taught architecture at the University of Texas, Tulane University, and Louisiana State University. She is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects.

‘Resilience for architects is a matter of understanding how climate hazards threaten to damage and destroy a building and making hundreds of well-informed design decisions. Allison Anderson’s book, Climate Adaptation for Architects, is written with the obvious insight of a practicing architect who has made those hundred of decisions many times and lives up to the responsibility to make buildings that will stand the tests of increasing risks’. David Perkes, AIA, Professor, Mississippi State University

‘The rising number of climate-related disasters worldwide make investing in adaptation increasingly critical. This is an essential resource for designers working at multiple scales to ensure that planning, infrastructure, and buildings are prepared for disasters’. Amy Chester, Director, Rebuild by Design

‘Resilient design is essential if we choose to protect people and property from a warmer, more chaotic climate. Luckily, the path forward is clear thanks to Climate Adaptation for Architects: A Design Toolkit. With design strategies that cover the full breadth of challenges we face, every architect now has the tools necessary to design for the future we know is coming’. Corey Squire, author of People, Planet, Design: A Practical Guide to Realizing Architecture’s Potential

Climate Adaptation for Architects provides essential knowledge to drive the crucial need to integrate resilience and adaptation into the built environment. The book is a comprehensive guide to adaptive design solutions at all scales – from materials to community scale, from theory to application. The clear organization by risk category, with great illustrations, makes the book easily accessible as a go-to guide. It should be an indispensable resource for all architects, from students to seasoned professionals’. Mary Ann Lazarus, FAIA LEED Fellow, Architect and Consultant, Cameron MacAllister Group, Adjunct Faculty, Washington University in St. Louis