rain collector skyscraper
‘capture the rain’ skyscraper by ryszard rychlicki and agnieszka nowak
polish architectural students ryszard rychlicki and agnieszka nowak of H3AR received a special mention for their proposal in the 2010 skyscraper competition.
‘capture the rain’ skyscraper is a building whose roof and external shell, which consists systems of gutters, are aimed at capturing as much rainfall as possible to meet the daily needs of its inhabitants. average daily consumption of water per person is 150 liters, out of which 85 liters may be replaced by rain water. within the last thirty years water consumption has significantly increased. there are lots of factors that contribute to such an increase such as increasing number washing machines and dish washers, increasing popularity of garden showering devices and flushing toilets. a third of water being used in households in western countries is flushed in toilets. since 1900 the total water consumption in the US has increased by 1000%. at present, an average american uses five times more water that a citizen of developing countries. such an increase is related to among others improved living standards. on the other hand, a national hobby of the danes is collecting rain water for washing and watering plants. within the last ten years average use of pure water in denmark dropped by 40% and inhabitants of the so called eco-villages use a third part of the national average.
in view of this data, they decided to design a tower, whose structure will allow for capturing and processing as much rainfall as possible to provide with water for its inhabitants. millennia plants have been developing systems of capturing and processing rainfall. such systems helped them to deal with water deficits or surpluses. similarly, they wanted to copy their simple mechanisms of rainfall capturing and processing. initially, in designing the tower, we focused at shaping and modeling the surface of the roof to capture as much rainfall as possible. under a roof’s surface, there are water reservoirs in the form of a large funnel and reed fields, which serve as a hydro botanic water treatment unit. the unit processes water into usable water that is further transmitted to apartments. a network of gutters on the external surfaces of the building is designed to capture rainfall flowing down the building. such flowing rainfall is transmitted to floors and its surplus is stored in a reservoir under the building. water captured and processed by the building may be used for flushing toilets, feeding washing machines, watering plants, cleaning floors and other domestic applications. having analyzed rainfall in several large cities in developed countries, we obtained a formula that shows what percentage of daily pure water consumption may be replaced with rainfall thanks to the technology applied in their building.
top section of ‘capture the rain’
detail of balcony
how the rain contributes to the rest of the building
the funnel which is at the core of the building
water consumption table 
the water is reused and circulated around the building
project info: rain collector and skyscraper design- ryszard rychlicki, agnieszka nowak ( www.h3ar.pl) 4th year students of architecture academy of fine arts in poznan poland special mention-2010 skyscraper competition evolo
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the metal curtain façade incorporates trees that appear to grow out of it, blending the building into the environment.
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the idea seems slightly bogus at this scale, but the renders are lovely. The model is also very nice, and seems to work better scale wise.maybe these guys should do some more product design?
I agree the scale is a bit scary, but it’s defenetly one of the best presentations I’ve seen in a long time…congrats!
I ‘m not fan this year evolo competition winner …
I agree scal is scary
nice concept project, congratulations
looks like a computer tower
LOVE IT
I guess the ‘scary scale’ that peturbes some observers is due largely to the top heavy application of a sizable ‘bucket’ amount of water on a residential tower. I would image that, even though this is really a concept, not a final design, such competant students that have the forsesight and guile to investigate such a narrative, probably went to the extent of quantifying the potential yeild for farming water against the demand generated from the amount of occupants, thus enabling the designers to scale the process to requirements. That being said, there is obviously a benefit to be considered in designing high concentrations of people who are united under one facet of permaculture while synonymously encouraging district diversity, encouraging a mixture of secondary building uses and raising awarenes of passive sustainability strategies in a delightful way. Please, more views from architects, not planners
zaha hadid lilium tower?
dear A.D.
never before has someone used so much space to say so little
Master idea – these buildings should be made into condo’s/apartment complexes, and smaller versions for homes. Fantastic – I’d love one where we don’t get much water as every little bit saved would be most beneficial.
The concept is surely scalable . . . it’s quite beautiful at any size.
it is definitely a nice shape.not to take away from that, but the post rationalisation is fairly standard student nonsense.building any kind of skyscraper is by defininition eco-unfriendly.if that needs explaining, best stick to your delusions (drive Range Rovers to Save the Planet conventions etc.)
The core of the building and idea behind it would be in harmony virtually anywhere. Love the symmetry. However if one takes a view from the inside through the diagonal exterior design element I think the light and view would be quite restricted. I would have thought that a balcony could also quite effectively collect the desired amount of precipitation. d;-)
Wouldn’t it be simpler to let the rain fall to the ground and collect it there?
love the idea of being rain collector building!!! the world need more water!!!
Lastima que en Colombia no se pueda hacer esto. La ley lo prohibe.
Its a very lovely shape to give a building and the detail is very nice. I wonder about filtering the water for use.
Impressive design.
Fabulous! Very good idea!
Is this a bash America article or simply an attempt to promote themselves. The Danes are a lot less than bright. The US already has a massive water collection system which collects all of the rain water that falls on hard surfaces in all American cities. It also eliminates the need and expense of building really ugly buildings. They call them sewers.
Sorry to say Hammer, but maybe you don’t know that much on how the US sewer systems work? The millions and millions of gallons of untreated water that is dumped from waste water facilities during a large rain event because it puts the facility over capacity. Aside from collecting usable water, rain water collection would help with storm water run-off and help reduce the amount of pollution into local waterways. The number one pollutant in local streams, rivers, lakes & delta’s is storm water run-off. Find out where your local sewer systems dump their water & you might change your mind…..
average daily consumption of water per person is 150 liters?? ummm…..i don’t think so
rodrigo: believe it…I live in Mozambique and I only have a 500L water tank in my house, which defines my daily use. It is normally just enuogh for 4 people…it’s sad but it’s good to have a direct feedback on how much water we use.
Great concept! Congratulations! Hopefully, someday soon we get to incorporate this kind of efficiency in structures around us.