AquaPraça

AquaPraça, designed by CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati and Höweler + Yoon, was unveiled at the UN Climate Change Conference COP30 in Belém by Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Ministry of Environment and Energy Security, and the COP30 Presidency as an integral part of the Italian Pavilion and one of the summit’s key landmarks. Conceived as a floating public square for global climate dialogue, AquaPraça will remain in Belém—on the Guajará Bay within the Amazon River system—as a permanent cultural platform after COP30.

AquaPraça, the floating cultural plaza designed by CRA-Carlo Ratti Associati and Höweler + Yoon, becomes one of the landmarks of the UN Climate Change Conference COP30 in Belém, Brazil. Following its unveiling in Venice in September during the Biennale Architettura 2025 in partnership with Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Italy’s Ministry of Environment and Energy Security, and COP30 Presidency, AquaPraça now serves as an integral part of the Italian Pavilion at COP30, the UN Climate Change Conference. 

Moored along Guajará Bay within the Amazon River system, the 400-square-meter (4,000-square-foot) platform functions as a global agora where climate change can be experienced at a human scale. The structure employs Archimedes’ principle to adapt to its environment, in a region where the Amazon Delta experiences tidal shifts up to four meters daily, revealing the bay’s underwater landscape. AquaPraça offers a compelling context for designs that mediate between water levels and human activity. By floating, visitors can experience natural and built systems at eye level. In Belém, AquaPraça incorporates an additional roof structure and serves as a civic catalyst, hosting symposia, cultural programs, and discussions on climate policy.

First unveiled in Venice in a simplified form, the project was later presented at COP30 as an extension of the House of Eleven Windows in central Belém. It now stands as both a new cultural landmark and an emblem of cooperation between Italy and Brazil. AquaPraça will become a permanent cultural infrastructure, standing as a legacy of Italy’s contribution to global climate dialogue and adaptive architecture. Located at the meeting point of the Amazon River system and the Atlantic Ocean, where freshwater and saltwater merge to create a powerful estuarine ecosystem, the Guajará Bay serves as the setting for the unveiling of AquaPraça in its completed form, following its initial partial presentation in Venice.