The project originated from a practical yet increasingly urgent need: to collect, slow down and infiltrate rainwater from a courtyard at the heart of an architectural renovation. The existing levels did not allow water to drain effectively towards the street. What was initially conceived as a simple drainage device was therefore transformed into an architectural and poetic element.
Since the performance of the system depends on the permeability of the ground, an analysis of the site’s geological conditions was required. This revealed a substantial gravel deposit lying directly beneath the site. The deposit was formed as a result of a phenomenon known in geology as a jökulhlaup - an Icelandic term describing a sudden and violent glacial flood - which occurred at the end of the last Ice Age, approximately 12,000 years ago, carrying vast quantities of gravel and sediment down into the plain.
Gravel thus becomes the primary material of the intervention. Its permeability facilitates the natural infiltration of rainwater while simultaneously bringing to the surface something that is no longer visible, yet remains embedded in the geological memory of the place.
The geometry of the project emerges from the progressive transformation of a rectangular matrix. The form adapts to the specific conditions of the site, intercepting, collecting and directing rainwater towards the fountain’s permeable surface. Every detail is designed to guide the movement of water. Rather than simply being collected, water flows through the composition and actively contributes to its form and perception, recalling the processes through which erosion gradually shapes the landscape over time.
In its form and symbolic references, the fountain can be understood as a syncretic combination of the qualities of a Japanese stone garden and those of a water garden. The circular elements distributed across its surface evoke lotus and water-lily leaves. Stone and gravel ensure the permeability of the whole, while large stone discs introduce a more distinctly perceptual dimension.
The smaller elements are cylindrical sections made from offcuts generated during the core drilling of stone and subsequently reused. The larger pieces, by contrast, were purpose-made and worked to create gently concave surfaces capable of retaining a thin layer of rainwater. The traces left by the cutting blades form decorative patterns based on parametric geometries, which become particularly vivid when the stone is wet and catches the light.
The fountain is constantly changing in appearance. During rainfall, drops animate the thin films of water held within the stone elements; once the rain stops, the concave surfaces become small reflecting pools, mirroring the sky, the light and the surrounding space.
Beyond its spatial and perceptual qualities, the fountain operates as a sustainable drainage system. Rather than rapidly conveying stormwater away from the site, it collects, slows and returns it naturally to the ground. At a time when climate change and increasingly intense rainfall are making the management of stormwater a critical aspect of contemporary design, the project demonstrates how a necessary environmental response can become an opportunity to generate architectural value rather than simply mitigate a problem.
The project transforms a technical necessity into a direct and sensory experience, capable of bringing the geological memory of the place to the surface and making its deeper, invisible soul perceptible.
