Climate change is drastically affecting our lives: glaciers and ice sheets are melting, leading to rising sea levels that threaten to submerge places like Venice and Tuvalu. But rising seas aren't the only water-related danger. In Jakarta, Indonesia, only two-thirds of the population have access to a centralized water system. Due to excessive underground water extraction, the city is gradually sinking. Environmental experts predict that if the current rate of subsidence continues, a third of Jakarta could be underwater by 2050, that's why the government is planning to relocate the capital to the island of Borneo.
Other regions are also experiencing extreme flooding, sometimes following months of drought. In September, Storm Boris brought severe flooding and heavy rain to the Czech Republic, Romania, Poland, and Austria. In Italy's Emilia Romagna region, which had already been hit by a major flood in May 2023, the storm triggered more floods and landslides. Climate change and higher temperatures are also contributing to stronger hurricanes (like Hurricane Milton, hitting Florida as this post is being published) by fueling increased storm intensity, wind speeds, and rainfall.
Last month, the climate disaster miniseries "Families Like Ours," directed by Thomas Vinterberg, very aptly premiered in Venice. The series portrays the experiences of various individuals after Danish authorities announce the need to evacuate the country due to flooding, forcing citizens to seek refuge wherever they can around the world.
It was fitting, then, for the Danish Architecture Center (DAC) to tackle this issue with an exhibition. "Water is Coming" (running until 23rd May 2025) might have a title that evokes a sense of impending disaster, but the exhibition presents installations and architectural projects designed to inspire reflection and adaptation.
Visitors are encouraged to explore the connections between water, people, and nature, seeking collaborative solutions with architects. Senior curator Pernille Stockmarr explains, "We're at a crossroads. Water is both a life-giving resource and a threat to our way of life (…) our ability to integrate and manage water will shape the future of cities and the lives of many people."
Stockmarr emphasizes that, while we can adapt, we need to rethink our approach and create bold solutions like those on display here.
The showcased projects demonstrate indeed various ways to address climate adaptation, ranging from local efforts to large-scale infrastructure, and from nature-based strategies to technical innovations.
The exhibition features a range of projects focused on biodiversity, urban development, and innovative waterfront housing. However, the key to addressing these challenges may lie in multi-level collaboration between scientists, architects, landscape architects, and urban planners.
One standout project is "Copenhagen Islands", designed by landscape architects at Schønherr. The project consists in a future vision for Copenhagen, proposing new urban spaces emerging naturally from the city's landscape and water flow, suggesting a departure from the 1947 Finger Plan. This plan, which combined urbanization with a radial commuter-train system and large green interspaces between the "fingers", could be replaced by a more sustainable framework like the one proposed by "Copenhagen Islands".
Among the potential solutions (that could also be aplied to other countries) there is the idea of redeveloping coastlines into "spongy" zones that absorb excess water and release it during dry periods. Habitats such as marshes, salt meadows, swamps, and rock reefs could reemerge, helping to break waves, absorbing CO2, and providing recreational areas for both people and wildlife, all while protecting the city.
Additional water-management projects include the climate-resilient neighborhood in Østerbro, designed by SLA, THIRD NATURE, and LYTT Architecture, which transforms an entire district into a water-management hub with rainwater collection and green spaces.
Enghaveparken in Copenhagen also demonstrates how urban areas can serve as both floodwater collection zones and recreational spaces.
The DAC event doesn't single out any project as superior, but encourages visitors to explore the ideas presented by both Danish and international architects and form their own conclusions.
Some of the solutions on display are even conflicting and have stirred public debate. One of the most controversial is the €2.7 billion Lynetteholm project, an artificial island that the government and the city claim will protect Copenhagen from rising sea levels and storms, while also offering a sustainable solution to urban expansion.
Once completed, Lynetteholm will extend the adjacent island of Refshaleøen by 275 hectares, accommodate 35,000 residents, provide flood protection through a dam structure, and connect to the mainland via a metro line and ring road. The island's foundation, which began construction earlier this year, is expected to be finished by 2035, with full completion planned for 2070. However, the project has faced criticism from NGOs, legal experts, local politicians, and even neighboring Sweden. Opponents argue that, rather than benefiting the environment and supporting Denmark's climate goals, it may actually cause harm and hinder maritime navigation in the harbor.
In contrast, the new Niederhafen flood barrier in Hamburg (the city's original promenade was raised to 7 meters above sea level after the 1962 storm surge to protect against flooding), designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, showcases how flood protection can be creatively transformed into an urban promenade, providing open and social spaces for both locals and tourists.
The exhibition also offers moments of calm through artistic projects: "The Water Drops" installation by glass artist Maria Sparre-Petersen serves as a reminder of the interconnectedness and interdependence of all things; "Sky & Sea", an installation by textile designer and artist Iben Høj, features knitted spatial draperies, creating an immersive, poetic space between the sky and sea.
Visitors are also invited to engage with interactive elements, including computer games that allow them to navigate imagined future worlds shaped by rising water levels.
Some of the projects featured in this exhibition were previously showcased at the Danish Pavilion during the International Architecture Exhibition - La Biennale di Venezia 2023.
Among them is "Mermaid Bay", a scenographic installation by Christian Friedländer, that was part of the "Coastal Imaginaries" exhibition at the Danish Pavilion curated by Josefine Michau.
This installation presents a modern, dramatic take on a diorama, a spatial design combining elements of theatrical scenography with the classical aesthetics of natural history museums. It stages a future coastal landscape partially submerged by the sea, using immersive lighting and sound to depict the fragility of the coast and the harsh realities of climate change.
While these works offer stark warnings about the future, there is also a sense of hope. However, this hope should not lead to complacency; it calls for action, urging us to rethink how we design our cities and promote life in a world increasingly influenced by water.
A few fashion designers have not ignored this pressing theme either: Vivienne Westwood, for example, highlighted the need to save Venice in her Vivienne Westwood's Gold Label S/S16 collection, while Dutch designer Iris van Herpen has often drawn inspiration from both architecture and water in her past collections, going as far as shooting a short film in the world's deepest salsobromoiodic thermal water manmade pool. Van Herpen's Haute Couture A/W 23 collection entitled "Architectonics", was also inspired by projects of floating architectures.
The exhibition at DAC also offers the chance to visitors to experience what it might be like living in a floating structure through a project by maritime architecture studio MAST. The best thing about their structures is that they are portable and can therefore adapt to the needs of a city. Such themes could prove inspiring for fashion design students who may want to develop adaptable clothing designed for life in aquatic environments.
Some elements in the DAC exhibition could even prove inspiring for runway sets, including "Pink Elements". These building components, part of the research project Deep Sea Minding, commissioned by TBA21-Academy, are designed to support marine life and stimulate coral polyp growth through their color and structure. These elements remind us that architecture should serve both humans and other species. What we create impacts indeed the ecosystems, so solutions must consider the needs of all life forms, both present and future (fashion, in particular, often overlooks this broader responsibility, doesn't it?).
So, fashion students reading this, it's time to study, do your research, engage with architects, and listen to their visions for the future, to help them creating also a wardrobe suited for a brand new aquatic life.
Image credits for this post
All images in this post: Installation views of "Water is coming", Dansk Arkitektur Center (Danish Architecture Center, DAC). Photo: Anders Sune Berg
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