Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam has inaugurated the ‘Water Cities Rotterdam. By Kunlé Adeyemi,’ a cultural project comprising of exhibitions along with several floating pontoons and artist installations that present the Nigerian-Dutch architect Kunlé Adeyemi’s waterfront designs in the Netherlands. The exhibition brings a seven-meter-high floating wooden pavilion on the institute’s outdoor ponds. Inside the pavilion, landscape architect and artist Thijs de Zeeuw has created an artwork to allow visitors to experience the pavilion from the perspective of nature while contemplating the consequences of building and living on the water for the surrounding ecology and biodiversity. The entire exhibition is on display at the Nieuwe Instituut until 22 October 2023.
The Water Cities Rotterdam exhibition is envisioned as a testing ground to explore the potential of water-related design solutions for global climate change. Encompassing different elements, the platform aims to address, from the perspective of past, present, and future, the escalating threat of rising sea levels that endanger wetlands, coastlines, and cities worldwide. The exhibition brings together examples of waterfront architecture from the National Collection of Dutch Architecture and Urban Planning together with works from artist Thijs de Zeeuw. All interventions align with the institute’s ‘Zoöp’ principles to accommodate the non-human forms of life.
Amsterdam-based firm NLÉ, led by Kunlé Adeyemi, has been a leading figure in the research of innovative solutions to respond to the escalating water levels. Inspired by African ‘water cities’ such as Lagos (Nigeria), the office has developed a floating circular building system to demonstrate the potential for architecture to address these complex climate-related issues. In Rotterdam, the office has installed the seven-meter-high pavilion MFS IIR – Water Cities Rotterdam in the Nieuwe Instituut’s ponds. It is made of recycled materials from the Venice Biennale installation. Inside the pavilion, Thijs de Zeeuw has created an opening in the pavilion’s underside to offer an underwater perspective and encourage visitors to contemplate the surrounding biodiversity.
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Nigerian-born Kunlé Adeyemi’s Amsterdam-based firm NLÉ is known for its research of the relationship between water and cities. Projects like the Makoko Floating School located in the Lagos Lagoon in Nigeria or the floating pavilions in Lagos, Chengdu, and Bruges, have been widely discussed for their impact on local communities and their response to climate-related challenges like rising sea levels. As part of their ongoing research, Kunlé Adeyemi has recently released the “African Water Cities” book, a collection of essays, research, and photographs illustrating the relationship between African coastal cities and communities and water through the lens of rapid urbanization and climate change. The book will be presented at Nieuwe Institute on 22 June.
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