In pictures: Entrepreneur unveils designs for €240m ‘world wonder’ for climate action

Don Ritzen, co-founder of the startup accelerator Rockstart, has spent years building companies and ecosystems that scale. Now he’s working on something potentially even more ambitious with his new startup Shift.

Shift recently secured a site in Rotterdam, the Netherlands to build a €240m “world wonder” designed to inspire action on climate change. Once that’s complete, Shift plans to construct similar landmarks in locations across the world.

“Civilisations before us erected monuments to gods or industrial might,” Ritzen previously told Impact Loop. “Our generation needs a vision just as daring – something that compels people to act on the climate crisis.”

Now the public can finally get a look at what the Rotterdam landmark might look like after designs from five winning architectural firms were unveiled at an event in the Netherlands yesterday.

Here's a look at the five designs and the firms behind them.

Planetary Landmark for the Climate Age

Spanish firm Office for Political Innovation is lead architect alongside Kaan Architecten and a wide team of construction specialists including WSP. Rather than a traditional monument, this is designed as a place where visitors can actually sense, understand, and engage with climate change as it's happening – part observatory, part community space.

Rotterdam ROCKS!

Dutch studio MVRDV leads a large team including ARUP, Arcadis, and designer Joris Laarman Lab. The concept is a stacked landscape of giant "living rocks" that breathe – merging nature and city life into a bold new landmark that captures Rotterdam's reputation for architectural experimentation.

Urban Reef

London-based Heatherwick Studio leads the design, alongside Nudus, Ramboll, Oosterhoff, RAA, and RLB. Inspired by a coral reef, the building stacks six layers of activity on top of each other, each supporting the next. The goal is to create spaces that connect people, raise awareness about climate change, and model a more sustainable way of city living.

The House of Shift

Dutch firm Mecanoo leads this one, with ARUP and Tellart. The building puts upcycling and sustainability front and centre – storing carbon, running on clean energy, and weaving nature into its structure. The vision is somewhere that feels exciting and joyful, not preachy.

A Living Landmark

Spanish firm Ecosistema Urbano is the lead architect, working with Fabrications and ARUP. The idea is a building that works like a living organism – blending public spaces with green infrastructure to bring communities together and support local wildlife.