Shifting Grounds

On the first day of Shifting Grounds, a two-day international programme as part of IABR 2026 SYSTEMS OF SUPPORT, the IABR brings together two distinct perspectives on the city and its development.

During Shifting Grounds, international and Rotterdam-based architects, designers, researchers, writers and other spatial thinkers come together for two days of conversations, project visits and knowledge exchange. Drawing on different perspectives, they explore how cities are changing and the role that design disciplines can play in these transformations. On the first evening, this conversation opens up to the public, bringing together two different perspectives on urban development.

Dominique Petit-Frère, architect, artist and co-founder of Limbo Accra, works at the intersection of architecture, art and urban transformation in Accra, Ghana. Hélène Joos, architect and partner at AgwA, works on a wide range of architectural projects, including the transformation and adaptive reuse of existing buildings.

Drawing on their different contexts, they will discuss how cities are changing and the role that architecture and design can play in this process. What do we mean by progress? What values underpin the way we develop our cities? And what can we learn when we look at our own urban context from a different cultural perspective?

Programma

16:30 – 18:00 Publieke lezing met Dominique Petit-Frère (Limbo Accra) en Hélène Joos (AgwA).