International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (IABR): Nature of Hope 2024

The 11th edition of the International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam (IABR) with the title Nature of Hope will take place from 29 June to 13 October 2024 and will include an exhibition at the Nieuwe Instituut, a public program and Botanical Monuments, green places in Rotterdam.

In addition to the exhibition at the Nieuwe Instituut, it includes an extensive Public Program and a green network through Rotterdam to visit its so-called Botanical Monuments. Through a series of events, lectures, workshops, excursions and other activities, Nature of Hope’s Public Program of connects to various forms of existing knowledge and the practices that are transforming the very nature of the design disciplines. Some of these will take place in the Practice Place, where we invite the architectural community in the broadest sense to come together around transforming practice. Keep an eye on the agenda for the full program.

Nature of Hope will focus on a combination of hope and nature. This choice stems from the recognition that everything begins with the Earth and that our exploitation – or rather, depletion – of the Earth, each other, and the living world is leading to multiple ecological and social crises. As humans, we can no longer place ourselves above or at a distance from nature and nor do we wish to. How can we put the knowledge and practices of spatial design at the service of the planet and all the creatures that live on it?

Opening and Opening symposium on 29 and 30 June

The International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam will open at the Nieuwe Instituut on Saturday 29 June 2024 with a ceremonial program. Nature of Hope kicks off with an opening performance from IID Company, after which the exhibition is free for everyone to visit. The opening will be performed by Said Kasmi, alderman for Education, Culture and Events, for the municipality of Rotterdam and Fleur Gräper-van Koolwijk, State Secretary for Education, Culture and Science. There will be music from Chirty and Zena-Rae from Aan Tafel! in the foyer throughout the evening and there will be various tours and activities that you can participate in. The opening symposium on Sunday 30 June will focus on the theme of this edition, Nature of Hope: on how architecture can restore the ecological balance by taking biodiversity and nature as its starting point. The Nature of Hope exhibition will be on display from the opening on Saturday 29 June until Sunday 13 October. 

Curator Team

This year’s biennale edition, themed Nature of Hope, is put forward by IABR Director Saskia van Stein and curated by the IABR 2024: Nature of Hope Curator Team. The team consists of architect and researcher Janna Bystrykh, architect-researcher and philosopher Catherine Koekoek, researcher and writer Hani Salih, spatial designer and researcher Alina Paias, and designer and writer Noortje Weenink. The curator team, whose members come from different backgrounds but share a common basis in spatial design, manifests the change that is already underway.

https://iabr.nl/en/nature-of-hope