Architecture studio MVRDV has been revealed as the winner of social enterprise Shift's competition to design a €240 million landmark in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
The winning proposal, named Rotterdam Rocks!, was selected from a five-strong shortlist that also included Heatherwick Studio, Mecanoo, Office for Political Innovation and Ecosistema Urbano.
MVRDV's was the most radical of the designs, taking the form of seven giant, stacked rocks on the banks of the river Maas, incorporating terraces, exhibition spaces and greenery.
Shift announced its competition with cultural agency DVDL in 2025, calling for proposals for a "new world wonder" that motivates people to take action against the climate and biodiversity crises.
The jury, which included Zaha Hadid Foundation director Aric Chen and UNS founder Ben van Berkel, described MVRDV's winning concept as "remarkably bold".
"MVRDV's proposal is a remarkably bold, powerful statement that we expect will capture visitors' imagination and encourage them to come back again and again," it said.
"We anticipate this building and its program will invite people to rethink their everyday behavior and encourage new ways of living sustainably together."
MVRDV's proposal for the 30,000-square-metre building will incorporate immersive exhibitions, a hotel, a conference centre and a food court.
It will form part of the upcoming Waterkant district on the south bank of the river Maas, which is set to provide over 3,500 homes, as well as schools, a train station, offices and cultural and leisure spaces.
Its seven stacked rocks will be arranged around two circulation routes and a series of "caves" containing the exhibition spaces and other hospitality functions.
A third route will envelop the exterior of the building, providing another exhibition area called The Elysium and a viewing terrace overlooking the city.
Details about its construction materials are yet to be disclosed, but it is expected it will be used to "showcase the latest innovations in low-carbon construction" and feature an exterior with pockets for soil, water, plants, and animals.
"Our first step in approaching this design was to expand the brief – we need to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and to create inclusive spaces for people, trees, plants, for water, air, and for animal habitats, balancing the need for new built space with new landscapes to compensate our ecological impact," said MVRDV founding partner Winy Maas.
"Our design integrates these human and natural spaces, playing with porosity to keep the project compact while maximising its ecological value."
Architecture practice MVRDV was founded in 1993 in Rotterdam by Maas with Jacob van Rijs and Nathalie de Vries.
Its other recent projects include a Bordeaux housing complex animated by plant pots and people-shaped portals and a hill-shaped viewpoint in Chengdu that was built from timber.
The visuals are courtesy of MVRDV.