Heatherwick, MVRDV and Mecanoo among shortlisted designs for "new world wonder"

Dutch social venture Shift has revealed the five shortlisted designs in a competition to design "a new wonder of the world" to promote action against climate change.

Heatherwick Studio, MVRDV, Mecanoo, Office for Political Innovation and Ecosistema Urbano are all competing to design the €240 million landmark in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

The brief calls for " a 100 per cent sustainable landmark" that inspires people to take action against the climate and biodiversity crisis.

Planned for the emerging waterfront district of Waterkant, the 30,000-square-metre building will incorporate a 10,000-square-metre immersive experience, a hotel, a conference centre and a food court.

The most radical proposal comes from MVRDV, which is based in the city, together with a team that includes Joris Laarman, a designer pioneering the use of 3D printing for urban greening.

Visualisations show what looks like a huge pile of plant-covered rocks, with an entrance resembling the mouth of a giant turtle.

"Rotterdam ROCKS! is a stacked landscape of living rocks that turns architecture into a regenerative, urban ecosystem and a new landmark for the city: rocks that breathe," said MVRDV, whose back catalogue includes the radical Markthal Rotterdam and the troubled Marble Arch Mound.

"Strengthening Rotterdam's experimental character, it demonstrates that buildings of tomorrow can merge nature and public life," said the studio.

The other Dutch firm on the shortlist, Delft-based Mecanoo, has meanwhile proposed a building with a strong civic presence. The images show a structure with a tiered public plaza rising up through its middle.

The architects say it will include "spaces for imagination, exploration, action, play and joy", combined with "bold upcycling, carbon storage, energy neutrality and ecological integration".

Thomas Heatherwick's London-based studio is proposing a six-tiered building it describes as "like a reef‑inspired ecosystem".

"Influenced by natural flows of movement, these layers offer spaces that bring people together, build climate awareness and show how a building can encourage lighter, more sustainable ways of living together," it said.

The amorphous proposal from Spain-based Office for Political Innovation, led by Andrés Jaque, was developed in collaboration with Dutch studios Kaan Architecten and LOLA Landscape Architects.

"Climate Section proposes a new kind of landmark for the Climate Age; not a monument, but a working section through the world as it is becoming, a place where climate is sensed, understood, and actively reshaped, together," said the team.

Completing the shortlist is another Spanish studio, Ecosistema Urbano, whose plant-covered proposal looks like a stack of different structures connected by external staircases.

"Conceived as a regenerative living system, the building operates as a dynamic social organism that integrates public space, ecological performance, and civic life, actively fostering biodiversity and strengthening connections between local communities and wider ecological networks," said the team.

Shift's long-term ambition is to construct one of these inspirational "world wonders" on every continent.

"People won't change because they are told to," said Don Ritzen, Dutch entrepreneur and founder of Shift. "They change when they experience that life can be better."

"The landmark and its immersive experience are built to create that moment by spotlighting real circularity and sustainability champions and showing that a better future is just one shift away," he said.

The competition was first announced on Dezeen in January 2025 and is being coordinated by New York-based agency DVDL.

The winner will be chosen by a jury including Zaha Hadid Foundation director Aric Chen, UNStudio founder Ben van Berkel, and actor and activist Carice van Houten, and will be announced before the end of spring.

Dutch investors are funding the competition, including a €250,000 prize fund to be shared among the five shortlisted entrants.

"Climate damage is likely to cost around six times more than mitigation," said Ritzen.

"Research also shows demand-side changes – how we eat, move, consume and live – could cut emissions by up to 70 per cent by 2050. On paper, that should be enough to trigger a major societal shift. In reality, facts alone rarely move people," he said.

"Shift aims to turn climate ambition into something people can experience. By combining art, architecture, innovation and education, the landmark is designed to make a circular future visible, tangible and irresistibly compelling, giving millions a clear pathway from inspiration to action."

The post Heatherwick, MVRDV and Mecanoo among shortlisted designs for "new world wonder" appeared first on Dezeen.