The design- and ongoing research project Tropic City is a attempt to embrace the powers of climate change, instead of fighting them. Jólan van der Wiel shows with his project Tropic City that the heavy rainfall and the rapid increase in temperatures can be a starting position for innovative design approaches, and translates them in objects and architectural solutions.
What are the circumstances of northern cities when transforming into tropical cities? How are we expect to intervene when mooson rains plague cities and the sealevel rises? How can design and architecture provide us with aesthetic and practical solutions in times of water scarcity or water excess?
Tropic City investigates the relevant forms, techniques and materials for this tropical future. Jólan presents a variety of objects and investigates developments at this area of tension, between design and architecture. The Water Bench is a former developed, conceptual design that stores water for periods of drought; the Watervase installation shows the different transient, aesthetic stages of water.