Living Water

Urban centers suffer from severe water runoff, rain is treated as waste and rapidly drained, while public spaces lack shade and thermal comfort. This project reimagines rainwater as a resource, capturing and filtering it through a gravity-based, low-tech system that supports irrigation and mist cooling. Furthermore, the structure creates a shade and enjoyable space for people to start interacting. In this way the structure offers, nature-based response to the heat-stress and urban ecological and social decline.

The project addresses the urgent need for small-scale public infrastructure that responds to heat stress, water runoff, and ecological and social decline in urban environments. In many cities, rainwater is still treated as waste and discharged rapidly, while public spaces lack shade and thermal comfort, especially in summer. The project redefines rainwater as a valuable resource by transforming it into a visible, functional, and social element that improves microclimatic conditions and supports everyday interaction.

Designed as an open, inclusive structure, it provides a shaded, comfortable space for rest, gathering, and intergenerational use. It is particularly relevant for residents of dense urban areas and heat-sensitive groups, while also offering an opportunity to learn from visible environmental processes.

The concept integrates rainwater collection, natural filtration, planting, and passive cooling within a single system. Rainwater is captured on the upper surface, filtered through low-tech mineral media such as pumice stone, and reused for irrigation and a mist-based cooling system. This combination of shade, vegetation, and evaporative cooling is expected to reduce temperatures in the occupied area by approximately 3–6°C compared to nearby exposed spaces, depending on local conditions.

An earlier prototype tested in Ecuador has demonstrated the feasibility of the system and informed its development. The current proposal builds on this experience through adaptation to European climatic and urban contexts.

The project is now moving toward further prototyping and performance validation through environmental monitoring and user feedback. It aims to demonstrate a replicable, low-tech model for climate-responsive public space that reduces runoff, improves thermal comfort, and strengthens the relationship between people and natural systems.