Experiencing Rainwater
Imagine it is raining. Is it dripping or pouring? Is the sound sharp or soft, loud or quiet? Which scents are enhanced, can you smell the wet wood?
Experiencing rainwater can be a bliss for your senses and there are many positive effects of designing with water when it comes to our health and well-being. So why don’t we design more with rainwater and incorporate it further into our cities? In this project, choosing something as simple and ordinary as a tram station, we have investigated how the experience of rainwater can be enhanced through design, as well as enrich the urban context.
“Quiet reigns with nothing to break the silence save the note of the boiling water in the iron kettle. The kettle sings well, for pieces of iron are so arranged in the bottom as to produce a peculiar melody in which one may hear the echoes of the cataract muffled by clouds, of a distant sea breaking among the rocks, a rainstorm sweeping through a bamboo forest, or of the soughing of pines on some faraway hill.“
The Book of Tea by Kakuzo Okakura
The sound of rainwater…
Mediating Detail – The Tram Station
Tram stations in the urban context was the chosen mediating detail of the project, since they are commonly used and have great potential for interactions with rainwater. Gothenburg is famous for both its trams and frequent rain, thus combining these two creates something enjoyable and meditative for the users. Following are videos portraying various tram stations in the city visualized interacting with rainwater.
Concept Models
To dig deeper into the chosen mediating detail and its potential with rain, we created concept models to physically explore the sensation of rainwater in combination with tram stations.
Model Workshop
Throughout the project we explored several methods to develop our project. One of them was a model workshop we set up for ourselves to challenge and get creative with new ideas. Below is a selection of photos from that phase of the project.
