Sea level rise? Land level rise!
World Architecture Congress
In June, the World Architecture Congress of the International Union of Architects (UIA) was held in the architectural capital of Barcelona. It is a gathering where thousands of architects from all over the world come together for lectures, debates, and workshops centered around the theme architecture for a planet in transition.
- Location
- Barcelona (ES)
- Client
- World Architecture Congress
- Year
- 2026
- Service
- Concept, spatial design, graphic design, content
For the accompanying exhibition in the former monumental power plant, Les Tres Xemeneies de Besòs, designers Dirk Sijmons, Lodewijk van Nieuwenhuijze, Ro Koster, and Herman Kossmann—together with a team of co-designers, scientists, and artists—have realized a presentation. It demonstrates how we can enable our land to rise along with the inevitable sea level rise by harnessing forces of nature.
Three-part collage
The presentation consists of a monumental 8-minute film, 16 spectacular peepboxes (kijkdozen), and two large school charts. Together, they show how we can awaken natural forces that thrive at the intersection of fresh and salt water, which flood every 6 hours and dry out again, leaving behind a thin layer of sand and silt. In short, restoring this specific dynamic of the estuary ensures the stabilization and retention of this gradual land elevation.
To communicate the story above to as large and diverse an audience as possible, the exhibition will tour through the Netherlands after its presentation in Barcelona. The presentation at the International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (IABR) in September is already confirmed. The exhibition will also travel to the annual Delta Congress, the Springtij festival on Terschelling, and the provinces of Zeeland and Groningen. The rest of the tour is currently being finalized.
