Let us take action to address the crucial challenges of our time by bringing the ocean—true pillar of our global ecosystem—into sharper focus.
The ocean plays a decisive role in the planet’s climatic, biological, and economic balances. Yet marine environments remain fragile, partially understood, and subject to growing pressures. This theme invites participants to rethink architecture in relation to the sea—not as a space to conquer or exploit, but as an ecosystem with which to coexist.
Designing in marine environments requires engaging with specific physical constraints: swell, currents, tides, seabed instability, hydrostatic pressure, salt corrosion, biofouling, depth, access conditions, and maintenance requirements. These parameters determine siting, structural systems, materiality, anchoring strategies, safety, and lifespan.
Architecture for the sea calls for a systemic approach. It is not limited to a built object but encompasses envelope and structure, flow management, logistics and mobility, land–sea interfaces, and interactions with ecosystems. Projects must reconcile habitability, technical performance, and ecological responsibility.
Each project must clearly explain how it organizes a framework for living and operating at sea—uses, safety, maintenance, continuity of access—while preserving ecological balance. The objective is to demonstrate how architecture can help establish a more balanced, sustainable, and sensitive relationship between humanity and the ocean.
