"Shift Embassy," Rotterdam, the Netherlands

MVRDV has won the international design competition organized by the social enterprise Shift to design the Shift Embassy, a new cultural destination planned for Rotterdam's developing Waterkant district.

Called Rotterdam ROCKS!, the proposal departs from the image of the isolated landmark by turning much of the building into an accessible public landscape.

Seven stacked, porous volumes form a series of caves and elevated terraces that connect exhibition spaces, hospitality functions, and outdoor routes.

Visitors can climb the exterior to reach panoramic viewing platforms overlooking Rotterdam, while vegetation, water, and habitats for birds and insects extend the future tidal park vertically across the facade, and attempts to weave ecological systems directly into its architecture. 

The project will form part of Waterkant, a large-scale urban development on the south bank of the Maas, planned to include 3,750 homes alongside schools, workplaces, cultural venues, and public spaces.

Architects: MVRDV,

Masterplan: Waterkant, Rotterdam

WATER APARTHEID

The only source of water is via these trucks that come once a week. People use anything that can store water till the next water truck visit.

cityscape // hamburg

Das Internationale Maritime Museum in Hamburg, Northern Germany, houses a large collection of model ships, uniforms, and maritime art, amounting to over 40,000 items and more than 1 million photographs. The collection was started in 1934 by Peter Tamm—former chairman of the board of the Axel Springer Publishing House—when he was 6 years old and his mother gave him his first model ship. Located in the Speicherstadt warehouse district of Hamburg‘s harbor, the building was given to the foundation for 99 years of free lease by the senate of Hamburg. Official website: