Aboard Italy\u2019s floating pavilion at this year\u2019s United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Bel\u00e8m, Brazil, delegates may experience a \u201csurreal,\u201d perspective-altering encounter with the water.<\/p>\n
As they descend the sloped perimeter of the 4,300-square-foot steel platform called \u201cAquaPra\u00e7a\u201d (\u201cwater plaza\u201d in Portuguese), visitors will find themselves eye-level with the brackish, muddy currents of the Par\u00e1 River in the Amazon Delta region, a gateway to the Atlantic Ocean, and with concerns about sea-level rise.<\/p>\n
AquaPra\u00e7a’s \u201cwater table\u201d bisects the floating public plaza, rising and receding with sea levels in Brazil’s Amazon River Delta.<\/p>\n
\u201cVery seldom do we occupy a physical structure that invites an embodied experience of our changing climate and the resulting fluctuations in the Earth\u2019s hydrosphere,\u201d said\u00a0J. Meejin Yoon<\/a>, B.Arch. \u201995, the Gale and Ira Drukier Dean of the College of Architecture, Art, and Planning (AAP). \u201cWhile we often witness the impact of sea-level rise on land with flooding events or view tides, flows and levels from above, AquaPra\u00e7a is a public space surrounded by and partially submerged in the water itself, creating a tangible experience that is as instructive as it is surreal or uncanny.\u201d<\/p>\n Yoon and Eric H\u00f6weler, B.Arch. \u201994, M.Arch. \u201996, co-founders of H\u00f6weler + Yoon Architecture, designed the floating plaza in collaboration with architect Carlo Ratti of\u00a0Carlo Ratti Associati. Constructed in Italy, AquaPra\u00e7a was unveiled this summer at the 2025\u00a0Venice Architecture Biennale. It will remain in Bel\u00e8m permanently as a gift to Brazil of novel public space \u2013 what Ratti refers to as a \u201ccivic catalyst.\u201d<\/p>\n Andre Corr\u00eaa do Lago, president of this year\u2019s U.N. climate meetings, said in a press release that the platform would create a striking presence at the conference, and serve as a symbol for \u201ca lasting legacy of our joint efforts and a continuous reminder of the importance of sustainability.\u201d<\/p>\n A delegation of six faculty and staff members and eight students plans to\u00a0represent Cornell at COP30<\/a>, including\u00a0Billie Faircloth<\/a>, associate professor of architecture at AAP and senior faculty fellow at the\u00a0Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability<\/a>.<\/p>\n Accommodating up to 150 people for workshops, public gatherings and other cultural events, the plaza operates on principles of equilibrium, displacement and buoyancy. Interior chambers pump water in and out so that the structure rises and falls, balancing the volume of air held in ballasts and maintaining a freeboard a few inches above water level. At the center, a rectangular cutout or \u201coculus\u201d provides an interior glimpse of the surface of the Amazon Basin, itself a critical indicator of ecological vulnerability. This slivered waterway bisects AquaPra\u00e7a\u2019s sloped surface to create a level datum, or water table, where people can reflect and convene.<\/p>\n Harbored in Bel\u00e9m, Brazil, AquaPra\u00e7a serves as both an anchor for the Italian pavilion at COP30 and a public space for raising awareness around climate change and sea-level rise.<\/p>\n \u201cAquaPra\u00e7a adjusts to water levels and occupancy in real time, allowing visitors to meet the sea at eye level,\u201d H\u00f6weler said.<\/p>\n \u201cRelying on physics and careful calibration,\u201d Yoon added, \u201cthe constant equilibrium necessary for the structure to float resonates subtly with broader notions of balances in nature, while at the same time pointing to the ever-growing threat of imbalances that affect the Earth\u2019s hydrosphere and put our coastal communities at risk.\u201d<\/p>\n Beyond\u00a0AquaPra\u00e7a, H\u00f6weler + Yoon, in a ten-year partnership with Bartram\u2019s Garden and Mural Art in Philadelphia, is preparing to launch\u00a0FloatLab<\/a>, a circular floating structure that will be moored on the Schuylkill River. Contributing to Philadelphia\u2019s cultural infrastructure and raising public awareness about the area\u2019s history and surrounding ecosystem, FloatLab will serve as a living laboratory and a connection between the city and the river.<\/p>\n Yoon\u2019s climate-related projects span design practice and research. Recent work by the\u00a0Design Across Scales Lab<\/a> she leads at AAP include\u00a0\u201cFalling Ice and Rising Seas<\/a>,\u201d a recent interactive visualization of how Earth\u2019s changing gravitational balances unevenly distribute sea-level rise from melting glaciers, and \u201cTree Folio<\/a>,\u201d a digital twin simulating the cooling effects of strategically placed shade trees in New York City.<\/p>\n \u201cAquaPra\u00e7a can be viewed as more than an architectural project,\u201d Yoon said. \u201cIt is 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. And, as critically, it is an immersive civic space for advancing public discourse, fostering international cooperation and seeking collective solutions.\u201d<\/p>\n AquaPra\u00e7a was constructed by Cimolai, a leading Italian steel company, and made possible through a unique international coalition, including the Italian Agency for Development and Cooperation, CIHEAM Bari, and the World Bank Group\u2019s Connect4Climate program, and with the support of BF International \u2013 member of BF S.p.A. Group (AquaPra\u00e7a COP30 naming partner), Bloomberg Philanthropies, Costa Crociere, ENEL and Gruppo Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane. After COP30, AquaPra\u00e7a will be donated by Italy to Brazil to become\u00a0a community space for promoting social engagement on climate, cultural strategy and the creative industries in partnership with the state of Par\u00e0 of Brazil.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Aboard Italy\u2019s floating pavilion at this year\u2019s United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Bel\u00e8m, Brazil, delegates may…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":290152,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[192,79],"class_list":["post-290151","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=290151"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290151\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/290152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=290151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=290151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=290151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}