July 2026, the World Architecture Congress of the International Union of Architects (UIA) will be held in the architectural capital of Barcelona. It is a gathering where thousands of architects from all over the world come together for lectures, debates, and workshops centered around the theme architecture for a planet in transition.

For the accompanying exhibition in the former monumental power plant, Les Tres Xemeneies de Besòs, designers Dirk Sijmons, Lodewijk van Nieuwenhuijze, Ro Koster, and Herman Kossmann—together with a team of co-designers, scientists, and artists—have realized a presentation. It demonstrates how we can enable our land to rise along with the inevitable sea level rise by harnessing forces of nature. It illustrates how ‘flood-retaining landscapes’ can gradually form in strategic places by smartly deploying the immense power of the tides and the accompanying slipstream.

Embassy of the North Sea presents a peep box

The presentation consists of a monumental 8-minute film, 16 spectacular peepboxes (kijkdozen), and two large school charts. Together, they show how we can awaken natural forces that thrive at the intersection of fresh and salt water, which flood every 6 hours and dry out again, leaving behind a thin layer of sand and silt. In short, restoring this specific dynamic of the estuary ensures the stabilization and retention of this gradual land elevation. They demonstrate how robust nature can revive in the sea, on land, and in the intertidal zone—nature that does not need to be protected like a greenhouse plant, but can ultimately help protect us. This ‘nature engineering’, the creation of sea-defense landscapes, might just prove to be civil engineering for advanced learners. It is an addition to our repertoire of water safety that also expresses a changing perspective on nature.

On tour in the Netherlands

After Barcelona, the exhibition will tour through the Netherlands. The presentation at the International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (IABR) in September is already confirmed. The exhibition will also travel to the annual Delta Congress, the Springtij festival on Terschelling, and the provinces of Zeeland and Groningen. The rest of the tour is currently being finalized.