Forty-five years after Aldo Rossi’s Teatro del Mondo floated through the Venetian lagoon, a new vessel takes to the water: AquaPraça. Conceived as a floating plaza, AquaPraça refers back to Rossi’s poetic exploration of architecture’s role in urban contexts while also looking forward to a future in which architecture and the planet can coexist in perfect symbiosis.
AquaPraça is a special project collaboration of Carlo Ratti Associati and Höweler + Yoon Architecture, in partnership with Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and Italy’s Ministry of Environment and Energy Security and in collaboration with CIHEAM Bari and the World Bank Group’s Connect4Climate program. AquaPraça will travel from Venice, Italy to Belém, Brazil, to become an integral part of Italy’s Pavilion at COP30, providing a framing for events and activities organized by Italy’s Ministry of Environment and Energy Security and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. Italy’s COP30 Pavilion will spotlight the country’s commitment to tackling climate change by promoting sustainable, innovative solutions, building on a rich history of Italian excellence, and developing strategic partnerships with key global actors. After COP30, Italy will donate the AquaPraça installation to the Brazilian government, where it will transition to a community space, promoting continued social engagement.
Participants
CRA – CARLO RATTI ASSOCIATI (COORDINATOR) (TURIN, ITALY)
Carlo Ratti, Turin, Italy, 1971. Lives and works in Turin, Italy, Boston, USA, and Internationally
HÖWELER + YOON ARCHITECTURE (BOSTON, USA)
Eric Höweler, Cali, Colombia, 1972. Lives and works in Boston, USA.
J. Meejin Yoon, Korea, 1972. Lives and works in Boston, USA.
Technical Collaborators
Light Follows Behaviour: Elettra Bordonaro, Argun Paragamyan, Luciana Martinez; Studio FM: Cristiano Bottino, Libero Corti; Maestro Technologies: Mykola Murashko, Davide Spina, Julio Ramirez, Eren Sezer; IngeMBP: Corrado Curti; CIMOLAI: Luca Infanti, Luca Vian, Simone Andreatta, Filippo Bellomo, Mario Nattero; NAOS: Roberto Prever, Antonio Vatta; NMLex: Ruben Pescara, Lodovica Bontempelli; DP38: Domenico Perrotta
Team
CRA – Carlo Ratti Associati: Carlo Ratti (Principal), Andrea Cassi (Partner-in-charge), Gizem Veral (Architect), Sonia Simone (Architect), Rodolfo Siccardi (Architect), Gary di Silvio (Architect/3D Artist), Pasquale Milieri (Architect/3D Artist), Gianluca Zimbardi (Architect/3D Artist); Höweler + Yoon Architecture: 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, Bloomberg Philanthropies and Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning, in collaboration with International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM Bari) and World Bank Group’s Connect4Climate program.
