The shorelines of the Great Lakes are highly dynamic natural systems. They are also highly desirable places to live, work, and play, and about a third of Michigan’s cities border Great Lakes shoreline. Yet our desire to live, work and play on the shore also yields conflict between the build environment and the physical realities of coastal dynamics.

Great Lakes Cities on the Shore will draw upon the use of computational and physical modeling, fabrication output and graphic visualization techniques to enhance our understanding of the complex dynamics of Great Lakes shorelines within the boundaries to two Michigan Great Lakes Cities—Benton Harbor and St. Joseph. We aim to contribute visual and tactile knowledge of a physical and ecological system that fluctuates over space and time. Digital technologies that facilitate the fabrication of physical models and visual representations will allow for collaborative conversations between urban planners, coastal engineers, state policy makers, architects, shoreland owners and local public officials to find a common language for to making informed shoreline management decisions.