Collection by Erika Heet

Resiliency Anchors a New Photography Exhibition in Los Angeles

The Annenberg Space for Photography’s Sink or Swim: Designing for a Sea Change opens this weekend.

Opening December 13 and running through May 3, Sink or Swim: Designing for a Sea Change explores the human story of resilience, from adaptation for survival to ambitious infrastructure planning, in some of the richest and poorest of the world’s coastal communities. Curated by architecture writer and radio host Frances Anderton with the Annenberg Space for Photography, Sink or Swim features newly commissioned and archival works by Dwell contributor Iwan Baan, Stephen Wilkes, Paula Bronstein, Jonas Bendiksen, and Monica Nouwens. Through the work of this select group of architectural, fine art, and news photographers, the exhibition casts an eye on both the problem of climate change in densely populated coastal regions and contemporary design as a means to navigate the changing landscapes.

Watervilla de Omval, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, by Iwan Baan. The houseboat floats in the Amstel river.
Watervilla de Omval, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, by Iwan Baan. The houseboat floats in the Amstel river.
A woman makes her way down the seawall along the Kitakama and Ainokama coastline in Sendai, Japan, in a photo by Paula Bronstein. After the tsunami in 2011, the Japanese government has spent billions of yen on the reconstruction of a 31.8 km seawall along the Sendai coastline. Commissioned photograph for the exhibition.
A woman makes her way down the seawall along the Kitakama and Ainokama coastline in Sendai, Japan, in a photo by Paula Bronstein. After the tsunami in 2011, the Japanese government has spent billions of yen on the reconstruction of a 31.8 km seawall along the Sendai coastline. Commissioned photograph for the exhibition.
Pabna, Bangladesh, 2010, from Jonas Bendiksen. The nongovernmental organization Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha runs a fleet of more than 50 floating schools and libraries in an effort to provide basic education in a severely flood-prone area.
Pabna, Bangladesh, 2010, from Jonas Bendiksen. The nongovernmental organization Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha runs a fleet of more than 50 floating schools and libraries in an effort to provide basic education in a severely flood-prone area.
Stilt houses, Ganvie, Benin, by Iwan Baan. Commissioned photograph for the exhibition.
Stilt houses, Ganvie, Benin, by Iwan Baan. Commissioned photograph for the exhibition.
Global Green’s Holy Cross community project, Lower Ninth Ward, New Orleans, Louisiana, by Stephen Wilkes. Commissioned photograph for the exhibition.
Global Green’s Holy Cross community project, Lower Ninth Ward, New Orleans, Louisiana, by Stephen Wilkes. Commissioned photograph for the exhibition.