make it rain
Quentin Gérard, Guillaume Deman, Elisabeth Terrisse de Botton and Matthieu Brasebin
Museo de La Rioja – Concéntrico 10
Make it rain bases its strategy on the cooling of cities in the midst of the climate crisis thanks to the use of the thermal properties of bricks in contact with water.
Within the framework of Concentrico of limited duration and with no guarantee of rain, it works with the water of the Ebro as the source of the project, imagining the collection of water as a collective and participatory moment.
The proposal is installed in the courtyard of the Museo de la Rioja, a paved space exposed to the sun and protected from the wind. We inhabit it in an informal environment composed of a brick floor, a textile to protect it from the sun and a well to store the water recovered from the river.
Like a garden, a series of watering cans are available to wet the bricks to refresh the space. The courtyard becomes a space conditioned according to needs, capable of interaction, which uses a series of elements that are as unmanufactured as possible for future reuse and reinterprets methods of traditional and vernacular architecture to improve thermal comfort.
make it rain
Founded in 2022 by Quentin Gérard (FR) and Guillaume Deman (BE), Brussels-based architects and graphic designers, Make it rain is a young, ambitious project that explores the issue of cooling cities through fast, design-led, modular terracotta installations. For Concéntrico #10, the team is joined by Brussels-based architects Elisabeth Terrisse de Botton (ES) and Matthieu Brasebin (FR). Together, they are interested in spatial production, focusing on its climatic, social and cultural dimensions. Their practice aims to reinforce pre-existing opportunities with architecture and graphics as a means of building and thinking.
Every summer, cities experience increasingly frequent heatwaves, giving rise to numerous heat islands. Simultaneously, in Belgium, rainfall analyses reveal some of the highest curves of the year. Designed for the most mineralized spaces or those awaiting conversion, the installation aims to retain and store some of this rainwater to combat the heat as quickly as possible.
Inspired by ancestral air-conditioning techniques, the Brussels project aims to reveal the thermal properties of the brick. Once the stored rainwater comes into contact with the surface of the terracotta, it evaporates due to heat, absorbing the hot air of the surrounding. It is this heat transfer that causes refrigeration.
Its modularity and design make it easily adaptable to the locations in which it will be installed. The structure and materials are designed for complete assembly and dismantling in a single day by two people, with no impact on the existing urban layout. Use is targeted to the months of intense heat, while freeing up space for the rest of the year.
With the collaboration of
