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AquaPraça
AquaPraça
PA, Brazil
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Other Projects by Carlo Ratti Associati
AquaPraça
PA, Brazil
AquaPraça is a 400 m²+ floating cultural plaza, unveiled at the Venice Biennale and later installed in Belém as permanent civic infrastructure for COP30. Floating at—and dipping beneath—the waterline, it negotiates buoyancy through an active system of air and water ballasts. The sea becomes a shared civic arena; visitors move along a sloped perimeter path that alternates above and below the surface, leading to a central amphitheater around a narrow water table that rises and falls with sea levels.
AquaPraça's stability is maintained through continuous recalibration. By filling or emptying ballast tanks, the plaza adjusts its elevation in response to tidal shifts and sea-level variations: when the ballast tanks empty, the structure rises; when they fill, it lowers to meet the waterline. As the perimeter path descends, the central plaza ascends, creating a continuous spatial dialogue between immersion and overview. Embedded sensors monitor sea level and occupancy, allowing the structure to adapt in real time. AquaPraça makes tides legible and frames climate change as a shared condition.
Initially presented in Venice as a special project, AquaPraça expanded its program upon relocating to Belém, where it hosted conferences, workshops, and public gatherings focused on climate change and sea-level rise. In Belém, tidal fluctuations can reach nearly 4 meters. The plaza connects to the shore via a 25-meter gangway designed to accommodate extreme water-level changes. A lightweight hypar roof was added to provide shade and protection, with an oculus aligned above the water table.
Designed by CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati with Höweler + Yoon, AquaPraça was unveiled at COP30 by Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Ministry of Environment and Energy Security, CIHEAM Bari, and the COP30 Presidency. Following COP30, Italy donated AquaPraça to Brazil, as a permanent public space in Pará dedicated to climate dialogue, cultural strategy, and creative industries.
Team Members:
CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati: Carlo Ratti (Principal), Andrea Cassi (Principal), Luca Bussolino (Strategy), Gizem Veral (Senior Architect), Rodolfo Siccardi (Senior Architect), Sonia Simone (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).
BF International – Member of BF S.p.A. Group (as AquaPraça COP30 Naming Partner)
Bloomberg Philanthropies
Costa Crociere
ENEL
Gruppo Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane
In collaboration with:
Ciheam Bari
World Bank Group’s Connect4Climate Program
Agenzia italiana per la cooperazione allo sviluppo
Technical Collaborators
Maestro Technologies; Mykola Murashko, Davide Spina, Julio Ramirez, Eren Sezer, Sara Zampieron, Kohei Nakajima
CIMOLAI: Luca Infanti, Luca Vian, Simone Andreatta, Mario Nattero, Ettore Zanotto, Pierluigi Colussi, Andrea Basso Luca
IngeMBP: Corrado Curti, Alessandro Ercole
NAOS: Roberto Prever, Antonio Vatta
Nunziante Magrone: Ruben Pescara, Lodovica Bontempelli
DP38: Domenico Perrotta
Projema Srl: Simone Graziano, Ivan Pavanello
Light Follows Behaviour; Elettra Bordonaro, Argun Paragamyan, Luciana Martinez
Studio FM; Cristiano Bottino, Libero Corti
STV: Nicola Ferrari, Jacopo Ferrari
matteogatto&associati; Matteo Gatto, Alina Arat
Lab da Cidade; Matheus Vieira
AquaPraça's stability is maintained through continuous recalibration. By filling or emptying ballast tanks, the plaza adjusts its elevation in response to tidal shifts and sea-level variations: when the ballast tanks empty, the structure rises; when they fill, it lowers to meet the waterline. As the perimeter path descends, the central plaza ascends, creating a continuous spatial dialogue between immersion and overview. Embedded sensors monitor sea level and occupancy, allowing the structure to adapt in real time. AquaPraça makes tides legible and frames climate change as a shared condition.
Initially presented in Venice as a special project, AquaPraça expanded its program upon relocating to Belém, where it hosted conferences, workshops, and public gatherings focused on climate change and sea-level rise. In Belém, tidal fluctuations can reach nearly 4 meters. The plaza connects to the shore via a 25-meter gangway designed to accommodate extreme water-level changes. A lightweight hypar roof was added to provide shade and protection, with an oculus aligned above the water table.
Designed by CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati with Höweler + Yoon, AquaPraça was unveiled at COP30 by Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Ministry of Environment and Energy Security, CIHEAM Bari, and the COP30 Presidency. Following COP30, Italy donated AquaPraça to Brazil, as a permanent public space in Pará dedicated to climate dialogue, cultural strategy, and creative industries.
Team Members:
CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati: Carlo Ratti (Principal), Andrea Cassi (Principal), Luca Bussolino (Strategy), Gizem Veral (Senior Architect), Rodolfo Siccardi (Senior Architect), Sonia Simone (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).
BF International – Member of BF S.p.A. Group (as AquaPraça COP30 Naming Partner)
Bloomberg Philanthropies
Costa Crociere
ENEL
Gruppo Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane
In collaboration with:
Ciheam Bari
World Bank Group’s Connect4Climate Program
Agenzia italiana per la cooperazione allo sviluppo
Technical Collaborators
Maestro Technologies; Mykola Murashko, Davide Spina, Julio Ramirez, Eren Sezer, Sara Zampieron, Kohei Nakajima
CIMOLAI: Luca Infanti, Luca Vian, Simone Andreatta, Mario Nattero, Ettore Zanotto, Pierluigi Colussi, Andrea Basso Luca
IngeMBP: Corrado Curti, Alessandro Ercole
NAOS: Roberto Prever, Antonio Vatta
Nunziante Magrone: Ruben Pescara, Lodovica Bontempelli
DP38: Domenico Perrotta
Projema Srl: Simone Graziano, Ivan Pavanello
Light Follows Behaviour; Elettra Bordonaro, Argun Paragamyan, Luciana Martinez
Studio FM; Cristiano Bottino, Libero Corti
STV: Nicola Ferrari, Jacopo Ferrari
matteogatto&associati; Matteo Gatto, Alina Arat
Lab da Cidade; Matheus Vieira
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