世界を旅する水上フォーラム

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〈アクアプラザ（AQUAPRAÇA）〉は、トリノとニューヨークを拠点とする カルロ・ラッティ・アソシエイト（Carlo Ratti Associati）とボストンに拠点を置くHöweler + Yoonが設計した400m²超のフローティングプラザです。

ヴェネツィア・ビエンナーレで公開された後、COP30に向けてブラジル・ベレンへと移設される予定となっています。

注目ポイント

• アルキメデスの原理を応用した水上に浮かぶ公共空間
• センシング技術により海面水位に適応
• 海面上昇を目の高さで体験することで、環境変動を直感的に理解する
• 展示・ワークショップ・シンポジウムなど、多用途に対応する柔軟なプログラム

（以下、カルロ・ラッティ・アソシエイトから提供されたプレスキットのテキストの抄訳）

©︎ DSL Studio

©︎ DSL Studio

ヴェネツィアでの公開とCOP30への旅立ち

2025年9月5日、水上文化広場〈アクアプラザ〉がヴェネツィアで公開され、ブラジル・ベレンで開催される国連気候変動会議「COP30」に向けた旅が始まった。

本プロジェクトは、イタリア外務・国際協力省、環境・エネルギー安全保障省、COP30議長国との提携により開発された浮遊するパブリックスペースであり、アマゾン流域における気候変動議論のための文化インフラとして機能する予定となっている。

©︎ DSL Studio

©︎ DSL Studio

浮遊する文化広場

〈アクアプラザ〉はセンシング技術とアルキメデスの原理を活用し、海面水位や利用需要の変化に応じて調整される浮遊型の公共空間である。

構造体は平衡・変位・浮力の原理に基づいて浮上し、水を貯留・放出することで周囲の水位との均衡を保つ。来場者は海面上昇の動的変化を目の高さで体験し、自然と都市システムに対する新たな視点を得ることができる。

©︎ DSL Studio

©︎ DSL Studio

公共性と市民活動の場

〈アクアプラザ〉は、センシング技術とアルキメデスの原理を活用し、海面水位や利用需要の変化に対応しながら、地球規模の気候対話のためのプラットフォームとして機能する。

このプロジェクトは、第19回ヴェネツィア・ビエンナーレ国際建築展にて初公開された後、11月10日から21日にかけて大西洋を渡ってブラジルの港湾都市ベレンに移送され、恒久的な文化施設として活用される予定となっている。

©︎ DSL Studio

©︎ DSL Studio

400m²を超える〈アクアプラザ〉の設計は、海に浮かぶ公共空間を創出し、建築環境と自然の力との物理的対話を形づくる。

この潜水可能な構造体は、平衡・変位・浮力の原理で浮上し、水を貯留・放出することで、周囲の水位との最小喫水高を維持するよう絶えず調整する。来場者は海面上昇の動的変動を目の高さで体験し、自然と都市システムの新たな視点を得ることができる。

©︎ DSL Studio

わずか5カ月という短期間で設計・建設・認証を成し遂げた〈アクアプラザ〉は、機能面では市民活動の触媒となることを目指し、展示会・ワークショップ・シンポジウム・文化イベントに150名以上を収容可能となっている。

COP30終了後も、このプラットフォームはベレンの文化インフラの一部として残され、アマゾン流域における永続的な文化的遺産となる。

©︎ DSL Studio

©︎ DSL Studio

©︎ DSL Studio

©︎ DSL Studio

©︎ DSL Studio

以下、カルロ・ラッティ・アソシエイトのリリース（英文）です。

AQUAPRAÇA TO LAUNCH ON 5 SEPTEMBER IN VENICE, ON ITS WAY TO COP30

On 5 September, AquaPraça — a floating cultural plaza designed by CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati and Höweler + Yoon — debuts in Venice, marking the start of its journey toward COP30 in Belém, Brazil. Developed in partnership with Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Ministry of Environment and Energy Security, and the COP30 Presidency, the floating public space will serve as a cultural infrastructure in the Amazon Basin for discussions on climate change.

2 SEPTEMBER 2025 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

For more information and high-resolution images, please get in touch with pr@carloratti.com.

CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati and Höweler + Yoon design AquaPraça, a floating cultural plaza to become the focal point of COP30, the UN Climate Change Conference in Belém, Brazil. AquaPraça will be unveiled in Venice by Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and Italy’s Ministry of Environment and Energy Security, in partnership with the COP30 Presidency. AquaPraça harnesses sensing technologies and Archimedes’ principle to adapt to changing sea levels and occupancy demands, serving as a platform for global climate dialogue. The project will debut at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia on 5 September, before making its transatlantic journey to the Brazilian port city of Belém, where it will become a permanent cultural infrastructure.
Spanning over 400 square meters (4,000 square feet), AquaPraça’s design creates a public space buoyed by the sea, shaping a physical dialogue between the built environment and natural forces. The submersible structure floats using principles of equilibrium, displacement, and buoyancy. Holding and releasing water, AquaPraça constantly calibrates to maintain a minimal freeboard with the surrounding water level. The public experiences the dynamic fluctuations of sea level rise at eye level, creating new perspectives on natural and urban systems.
Functionally, AquaPraça aims to serve as a civic catalyst. It can host over 150 people for exhibitions, workshops, symposia, and cultural events. Debuting during the Biennale Architettura in September 2025, it will then travel sustainably to Belém, where it will serve as an integral part of the Italian Pavilion at COP30. After the summit, the platform will remain as part of Belém’s cultural infrastructure—a lasting cultural legacy in the Amazonian Basin.
AquaPraça was made possible through a unique international coalition. Launched in partnership with CIHEAM Bari and the World Bank Group’s Connect4Climate program, and with the support of BF International – Member of BF S.p.A. Group (as AquaPraça COP30 Naming Partner), Bloomberg Philanthropies, ENEL, and Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane. Its design underscores its mission: to unite diverse communities and advance ecological thinking.

“The concept of a floating forum is truly innovative and aligns perfectly with our vision for COP30,” says Andre Corrêa do Lago, President of COP30. “Bringing this structure to Brazil would create a striking and symbolic presence at the conference, highlighting our commitment to sustainability. Moreover, it could serve as a lasting legacy of our joint efforts and a continuous reminder of the importance of sustainability.”
“In 1979, Aldo Rossi launched the Teatro del Mondo at the first Biennale Architettura, positing that architecture could engage with the past. Today, AquaPraça shows how architecture can engage with the future—by responding to climate and engaging with nature rather than resisting it,” says Carlo Ratti, professor at MIT and the Politecnico di Milano, co-founder of CRA, and director of the Biennale Architettura 2025.
“AquaPraça lets visitors meet the sea at eye level,” says Eric Höweler, co-founder of Höweler + Yoon and a Professor at Harvard University. “Its sloping surfaces and shifting levels embody a delicate equilibrium.” “It’s a platform, both literal and figurative, for deepening our collective understanding and experience of sea level rise and the impacts of climate change on global cities and communities,” adds J. Meejin Yoon, co-founder of Höweler + Yoon and the Gale and Ira Drukier Dean at Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning, “and seeking collective solutions.
“Cimolai is honored to be part of such an innovative and symbolic project as AquaPraça,” comments Marco Sciarra, President of Cimolai SpA. “The real challenge was to complete the platform in record time—within just five months, we finalized the structural design, construction, and certification, while seamlessly integrating both architectural and engineering aspects. This floating cultural platform not only highlights Italian engineering excellence and the ability to tackle complex challenges, but also combines technology and sustainability to provide concrete solutions for communities affected by climate change. For Cimolai, it is a unique opportunity to strengthen Italy’s role both in scientific progress and in the global dialogue on architecture and climate.”
Key Information: AquaPraça will be unveiled at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia on 5 September 2025, before traveling to Brazil. From 10 to 21 November 2025, it will be anchored in Belém as part of the Italy Pavilion at COP30, and afterwards, it will remain in the Amazon as a permanent floating cultural infrastructure, symbolizing adaptability and dialogue in the face of climate change.

CREDITS

AQUAPRAÇA

CRA-CARLO RATTI ASSOCIATI (COORDINATOR)
HÖWELER + YOON

Team Members
CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati: Carlo Ratti (Principal), Andrea Cassi (Principal), Luca Bussolino (Strategy), Gizem Veral (Architect), Sonia Simone (Architect), Rodolfo Siccardi (Senior Architect), Gary di Silvio (Architect/3D Artist), Pasquale Milieri (Architect/3D Artist), Gianluca Zimbardi (Architect/3D Artist)

Höweler + Yoon: J Meejin Yoon (Principal), Eric Höweler (Principal), Asli Baran Grace (Project manager), Shuang Chen (Designer), Selin Sahin (researcher), David Hamm (Technical Advisor)

Supporters
Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale; Ministero dell’Ambiente e della Sicurezza Energetica; Bonifiche Ferraresi; Bloomberg Philanthropies; Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning.

In collaboration with
Ciheam Bari, the World Bank Group’s Connect4Climate Program

Technical Collaborators
Elettra Bordonaro, Argun Paragamyan, and Luciana Martinez, Light Follows Behaviour; Cristiano Bottino, Studio FM; Mykola Murashko, Davide Spina, Julio Ramirez, and Eren Sezer, Maestro Technologies; Corrado Curti, IngeMBP; Luca Infanti, Andrea Faggiani, Luca Vian, Simone Andreatta, Ettore Zanzotto, Andrea Basso Luca, Dylan Bortoluzzi, Pierluigi Colussi, and Mario Nattero, CIMOLAI; Roberto Prever and Antonio Vatta, NAOS; Ruben Pescara and Lodovica Bontempelli, NMLex; Domenico Perrotta, DP38

ABOUT CRA-CARLO RATTI ASSOCIATI
CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati is an international design and innovation practice based in Turin, Italy, and New York City. Drawing on Carlo Ratti’s research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the office is currently involved in many projects across the globe, embracing every scale of intervention – from furniture to urban planning. Among recent projects are the Italian Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, the biophilic skyscraper CapitaSpring in Singapore, the urban curatorship of Manifesta 14 Prishtina biennial, the redesign of the Agnelli Foundation headquarters in Turin, and the master plan for the Milan Innovation District (MIND). CRA is the only design firm whose work has been featured three times in TIME Magazine’s “Best Inventions of the Year” list – with the Digital Water Pavilion, the Copenhagen Wheel, and Scribit. Carlo Ratti is the appointed Curator of the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia (2025).

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ABOUT HÖWELER + YOON

Höweler + Yoon is a design-driven architecture and urbanism practice whose work is deeply informed by social and cultural context. Founded by partners, Eric Höweler and J. Meejin Yoon, the studio works on diverse topics and at a range of scales, including environmental installations, cultural institutions, multifamily housing, and commemorative landscapes. The studio’s current projects include the Karsh Institute of Democracy at the University of Virginia, as well as the Living Village at the Yale Divinity School. Recent projects include the new MIT Museum in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the Memorial to Enslaved Laborers, a landform structure dedicated to enslaved laborers at the University of Virginia. J. Meejin Yoon is the Gale and Ira Drukier Dean of Cornell University’s College of Architecture, Art, and Planning, and was previously Professor and Head of the Department of Architecture at MIT. Eric Höweler is Professor of Architecture at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, where he serves as the Director of the Masters of Architecture I Program.

https://howeleryoon.com

カルロ・ラッティ・アソシエイト 公式サイト
https://carlorattiassociati.com

Höweler + Yoon 公式サイト
https://www.howeleryoon.com