Make it rain at the Biennale d’architecture et de paysage de Versailles

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. As 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.
 

Make it rain will be presented as part of the 3rd edition of the Biennale d'Architecture et de Paysage de Versailles, which runs from May 6 to July 13, 2025. The team will be presenting a 2mx2mx2m fragment/model of a make it rain installation, to talk about the general concept. For its 3rd edition, the theme of the Bap! is “The Living City”.
 

The preservation of all forms of life, the renewal of a healthier, more peaceful living environment for all, and the saving of resources to safeguard our planet will be at the heart of all the perspectives and positive solutions that this biennial will introduce to visitors.
 

With a program of exhibitions in prestigious venues in Versailles, curators with rich and varied backgrounds, conferences, debates, participative workshops..., the Bap! will be the major event of 2025. The event will bring together partners with a wide range of expertise: local authorities and associated bodies, national architecture and landscape schools, national cultural establishments, planning establishments, giving a voice to professionals from the urban planning, construction, housing and landscape sectors, academics, sociologists and artists.

With the support of Wallonia-Brussels International.