On 10 July 2016, the seventh International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam, IABR–2016–THE NEXT ECONOMY, investigating the relationship between design and tomorrow’s economy, struck its final chord. At the heart of the eleven-week exhibition IABR-2016 was a platform for the exchange of knowledge and ideas, debate, and brainstorming sessions by designers and academics, administrators and policymakers, stakeholders and entrepreneurs, citizens and audiences from the Netherlands and abroad.
Further enhanced by debate and knowledge exchange, the results of the IABR research by design projects in particular generated concrete, valuable input for decision- and policymaking. The IABR mapped the possibilities of an energy transition in Groningen, made plans for the large-scale production of wind power on the North Sea, and formulated proposals to use spatial design to transform Utrecht into a more Healthy City, results that will be further developed by the authorities and organizations concerned after the Biennale.

The IABR will intensify its existing collaboration with the city of Rotterdam: the IABR–Atelier Resilient Rotterdam 2016 – 2020 will continue to work on plans and projects for a more climate-proof and resilient Rotterdam. Results will be presented at the IABR–2018 and IABR-2020.