A team of GSD alumni are involved in Resilient Power Puerto Rico, a project launched after Hurricane Maria to bring solar generators to the most under-served areas of the island with the long-term goal of promoting solar electric energy for every household in Puerto Rico. Jonathan Marvel MArch ’86 (Project Co-founder and Director of Logistics and Installation), Walter Meyer MLAUD ’03 (Project Co-founder and Strategy Director), Jennifer Bolstad AB ’98, MLA ’02 (Project Co-founder and Director of Administration and Finances), and José Juan Terrasa-Soler MLA ’07 (Director at Marvel Architects San Juan, Puerto Rico) are members of the Resilient Power Puerto Rico team, which operates under the nonprofit Coastal Marine Resource Center. Their work has been featured in a number of news outlets, including Architectural Record, the Miami Herald, AIA blog (interview with Marvel), the Architect’s Newspaper, and the Huffington Post.

In October, Terrasa-Soler participated in the GSD event “Hurricane Maria and Puerto Rico: Lessons for Future Urban Disasters,” moderated by Jerold S. Kayden AB ’75, JD ’79, MCRP ’79, Frank Backus Williams Professor of Urban Planning and Design, and organized by the Department of Urban Planning & Design, the MDes – Risk & Resilience concentration, and the course “Land Use and Environmental Law.”

Photo courtesy of Jonathan Marvel via AIA.