Make it Rain at Concentrico

This year, for the 10th edition of the Concentrico Festival to be held in Logroño from April 25 to May 1, 2024, the Make it Rain project will represent the FWB.

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.