The Self-Assembly Lab at MIT is working with Invena, an organization in the low-lying island nation of the Maldives, on a model for climate change response aimed at protecting the world’s coasts and coastal populations.

In this installation, watch as waves gather sand into patterns, and envision a system of underwater structures harnessing wave power to accumulate sand in strategic places. This natural solution, already deployed in the Maldives, has the potential to rebuild coastlines – and even grow islands.