Shift, a social enterprise designed to enable large-scale societal change through art and architecture, has opened a call for a new 'Wonder of the World'. Last year, the company announced an international design competition to this end, and confirmed a location for the winning project – in Rotterdam's Waterkant neighbourhood. Today (4 March 2026), Shift has unveiled five design concepts in the running to become the Shift Landmark.
The Shift International Architecture Competition was launched in January 2025. Eighty teams submitted proposals, which were whittled down to the five finalists, who have continued developing their designs since November 2025.
Heatherwick Studio's 'Urban Reef'
The Shift Landmark design concepts have been unveiled
The shortlist includes concepts from Ecosistema Urbano, Heatherwick Studio, Mecanoo, MVRDV, and Office for Political Innovation. Each design is rooted in turning a concept into a place where individuals and organisations can experience circular living and be inspired to act towards a better future. The winner will go on to build the €240 million purpose-driven destination.
The location is aptly chosen, as Rotterdam continues to see new buildings develop and is a hub of urban-forward thinking, from the newly opened Netherlands Fotomuseum to Portlantis, the city’s museum dedicated to the port. Shift’s longer-term ambition for the Landmark project is to create a network of similar structures across six continents, each designed to help create a better and sustainable way for future living.
Ecosistema Urbano's ‘A Living Landmark’
Each of the concepts has been planned at 25,000 to 30,000 sq m, and will include a 10,000 sq m immersive experience, a hotel, a conference and meeting centre, and a sustainable food court. Based in Spain, Ecosistema Urbano presents ‘A Living Landmark’, a regenerative living system that operates as a dynamic social organism. The aim is to unite biodiversity with local communities and daily life.
Mecanoo's ‘The House of Shift'
The UK’s Heatherwick Studio presents ‘Urban Reef’, a building comprising six layers, all of which support each other, in a reef-inspired environment. The spaces bring people together within a fluid design.
Dutch studio Mecanoo's ‘The House of Shift’ focuses on upcycling, carbon storage and energy neutrality, with a space-station aesthetic.
Office for Political Innovation's ‘Planetary Landmark for the Climate Age’
Rotterdam’s MVRDV presents ‘Rotterdam Rocks’, a stacked landscape of living rocks that turn architecture into an urban ecosystem, a futuristic take on eco-brutalism that merges nature and public life.
Office for Political Innovation, based in Spain, showcases ‘Planetary Landmark for the Climate Age’, designed to sense and understand the climate.
The international jury will complete its evaluation of the presented projects, and a winning design will be announced in spring 2026.
A view of MVRDV’s ‘Rotterdam Rocks’ from its tidal park
‘Shift aims to turn climate ambition into something people can experience. By combining art, architecture, innovation and education, the Shift Landmark is designed to make a circular future visible, tangible and irresistibly compelling, giving millions a clear pathway from inspiration to action,’ says Shift founder Don Ritzen.
‘People won’t change because they are told to. They change when they experience that life can be better. The landmark and its immersive experience are built to create that moment, by spotlighting real circularity and sustainability champions and showing that a better future is just one shift away.’