This interdisciplinary course explored innovative solutions for disaster relief and preparedness through both design and planning. Focused on housing issues, this class introduced how federal policies affect the built environment at the community level. Students also analyzed various disaster housing pilot projects and found ways to integrate post-disaster plans into long-term visions for cities. They further studied disaster housing typologies, group sites, local ordinances, mitigation strategies, buyouts, relocation, and their complexities and challenges.

Games are shown to be effective in teaching disaster response, transforming the problem into an approachable, thought-provoking, and fun scenario without trivializing the disaster experience. For the final project, students designed games for various disaster scenarios.

“Post-Quake: Faster the Recovery, Bigger the Victory!" is designed to strengthen coordination among actors during the emergency rescue operation within the 72 golden hours and recovery phase post-earthquake that hits the coast of Honolulu, Hawaii.

Game-Makers: Carolanne Rodrigues, Chandra Hada, Evellyn Tan, Ginevra D’agostino, Ryuhei Ichikura, Mengfu Kuo, Paulo Alvarado, Shail Joshi

"Where There's Smoke: A cooperative not-just-another-disaster game" is designed to strengthen coordination among actors in recovery planning for long- and short-term housing after a fire in the Wildland-Urban Interface.

Game-Makers: Jon Brearley, Cyrus Chu, Lenna Johnson, Emily Lo-Gibson, Charlotte Matthai, Sara Brent, and Yaara Yacoby

“SWEPT: Taking Housing Recovery by Storm” deals with issues related to flooding in an urban area and the coordination required for tackling it.

Game-Makers: Radhika Singh, Jimmy Pan, Marisa Prasse, Larissa McDonogh-Wong, Ana Arenas, Alberto Meouchi, Ana Mcintosh