The new Wonder of the World, to be built in Rotterdam, will be an inspiration for a sustainable and circular future
With the hope of creating large-scale societal change through art and architecture, the Shift International Architecture Competition was announced last year, calling for a new ‘Wonder of the World’ to be made.
The competition, launched in January 2025 by social enterprise Shift, saw 80 submitted proposals, of which the winning concept will become the new Shift Landmark in Rotterdam’s Waterkant, a major upcoming high-density, mixed-use neighbourhood. It will be the first of six such landmarks, one per continent—a modern-day structure that will inspire a more sustainable and circular future.
As of now, a shortlist of five has been unveiled, with designs from Ecosistema Urbano, Heatherwick Studio, Mecanoo, MVRDV, and Office for Political Innovation. Each concept has been planned at 25,000 to 30,000 square metres, including a 10,000-square-metre immersive experience, hotel, conference centre and food court. The goal is to unite biodiversity with the local community and day-to-day.
The winner will be announced this spring 2026.
A Living Landmark
Architect: Ecosistema Urbano
“Conceived as a regenerative living system, the building operates as a dynamic social organism that integrates public space, ecological performance, and civic life—actively fostering biodiversity and strengthening connections between local communities and wider ecological networks.”
Rotterdam Rocks
Architect: MVRDV
“Rotterdam ROCKS! is a stacked landscape of living rocks that turns architecture into a regenerative, urban ecosystem and a new landmark for the city: rocks that breathe. Strengthening Rotterdam’s experimental character, it demonstrates that buildings of tomorrow can merge nature and public life.”
Planetary Landmark for the Climate Age
Architect: Office for Political Innovation
“Climate Section proposes a new kind of landmark for the Climate Age: not a monument, but a working section through the world as it is becoming—a place where climate is sensed, understood, and actively reshaped, together.”
The House of Shift
Architect: Mecanoo
“An inspiring icon for sustainability that places bold upcycling, carbon storage, energy neutrality, and ecological integration at its core. Integrating spaces for imagination, exploration, action, play, and joy.”
Urban Reef
Architect: Heatherwick Studio
“A new building for Rotterdam, built from six layers of activity that support one another like a reef‑inspired ecosystem. Influenced by natural flows of movement, these layers offer spaces that bring people together, build climate awareness and show how a building can encourage lighter, more sustainable ways of living together.”
Featured photo by MVRDV