Created by the designers of Studio Faltazi, Reënstok is a rainwater collection and storage system that is grafted onto the facades of existing buildings.
INSTALLATION OF PROTOTYPES
2020 - Rue Delesseux, Paris 19
2019 - rue Louis Blanc, Paris 10
PROJECT ORIGINS
“ Climate change remains the most pressing issue for our planet, and large metropolitan areas are among its first victims in terms of deterioration of air quality, urban overheating, and changes in the relationship between humans and nature. There are a number of solutions already available to slow down, if not fully halt, the destructive impact that we humans have on our planet. Urban fixtures represent a technical enzyme that can help generate new actions and uses in our cities.
On average Paris’ water department draws, moves, treats, and distributes 483,000 m3 of potable water every day to 3 million users. It also offers non-potable water to companies and collectives as an alternative. Paris has the good fortune of possessing 2,000 km of pipes of non-potable water drawn from the Seine and the Canal de l’Ourcq that is used to water gardens and parks, clean streets, and maintain the sewer system.
As a complement to this service, we propose installing water tanks in façades as a replacement for rain gutters. Rainwater stored in new generation tanks or buffers will no longer go directly to the sewers. It will be collected and stored for use on site, for watering plants and flowers on balconies, ground floor gardens, and green walls. To assess the total potable water savings, these tanks are connected to the Lora network; thus, they provide previous information to Paris’ public water department.
This device also has another, regulating function: by absorbing excess water during storms in Paris to avoid overflows at water purification stations and to ensure the necessary flow for the proper functioning of the sewers during dry spells. Composed of modules of varying shapes that can be stacked to any height, these tanks can reach the uppermost cornices and balconies of a building, all the way up to the roof. This system purges itself when temperatures go below zero. ”
2020 - Rue Delesseux, Paris 19
2019 - rue Louis Blanc, Paris 10
Tested for the first time in Paris on an apartment building owned by Paris Habitat and located at 2 rue Louis Blanc in the 10th arrondissement, Reënstok replaces the existing downspouts. Stored in these new-style buffer tanks, the rainwater collected in this way no longer goes directly into the sewers. It is recuperated for on-site use to water the green spaces of the housing complex and a shared garden managed by a non-profit organisation.
a shared garden managed by a neighbourhood association.
Designed as a simple vertical parallelepiped in brushed stainless steel to reflect its environment, this facade tank is composed of a distribution unit at the foot of the building and modules that can be stacked without height limits.
A real buffer volume, the façade tank also plays a regulating role by absorbing excess water during storms and deferring its use during dry periods: it thus contributes to the implementation of the Paris Rain Plan (rain zoning in Paris).
PROJECT ORIGINS
“ Climate change remains the most pressing issue for our planet, and large metropolitan areas are among its first victims in terms of deterioration of air quality, urban overheating, and changes in the relationship between humans and nature. There are a number of solutions already available to slow down, if not fully halt, the destructive impact that we humans have on our planet. Urban fixtures represent a technical enzyme that can help generate new actions and uses in our cities.
On average Paris’ water department draws, moves, treats, and distributes 483,000 m3 of potable water every day to 3 million users. It also offers non-potable water to companies and collectives as an alternative. Paris has the good fortune of possessing 2,000 km of pipes of non-potable water drawn from the Seine and the Canal de l’Ourcq that is used to water gardens and parks, clean streets, and maintain the sewer system.
As a complement to this service, we propose installing water tanks in façades as a replacement for rain gutters. Rainwater stored in new generation tanks or buffers will no longer go directly to the sewers. It will be collected and stored for use on site, for watering plants and flowers on balconies, ground floor gardens, and green walls. To assess the total potable water savings, these tanks are connected to the Lora network; thus, they provide previous information to Paris’ public water department.
This device also has another, regulating function: by absorbing excess water during storms in Paris to avoid overflows at water purification stations and to ensure the necessary flow for the proper functioning of the sewers during dry spells. Composed of modules of varying shapes that can be stacked to any height, these tanks can reach the uppermost cornices and balconies of a building, all the way up to the roof. This system purges itself when temperatures go below zero. ”
PROJECT PARTICIPANTS
Faltazi, Laurent Lebot and Victor Massip
The Faltazis design all kinds of things, even industrial objects. They work with the SEB Group, for whom they design irons, vacuum cleaners, and electric kettles. They design equipment for Schneider Electric and strollers for Bébéconfort, but they have also produced prospective projects such as Monsieur Faltazi, the Ekokook kitchen, and most recently, the project “Les Ekovores.” They offer an often atypical, yet very concrete vision of the world and of their profession. Their environmental and civic commitment, their concrete ambition to develop a sustainable world, and their experience in industrial practices have contributed to the singularity and relevance of their approach (consider, for example, the Uritrottoir & Uritonnoir public urinals). As the privileged partners of industry, they have never removed themselves from the sphere of production in their envisioning of alternative, collective scenarios that challenge and fundamentally change longstanding paradigms in the world of design.
Faltazi, Laurent Lebot and Victor Massip
The Faltazis design all kinds of things, even industrial objects. They work with the SEB Group, for whom they design irons, vacuum cleaners, and electric kettles. They design equipment for Schneider Electric and strollers for Bébéconfort, but they have also produced prospective projects such as Monsieur Faltazi, the Ekokook kitchen, and most recently, the project “Les Ekovores.” They offer an often atypical, yet very concrete vision of the world and of their profession. Their environmental and civic commitment, their concrete ambition to develop a sustainable world, and their experience in industrial practices have contributed to the singularity and relevance of their approach (consider, for example, the Uritrottoir & Uritonnoir public urinals). As the privileged partners of industry, they have never removed themselves from the sphere of production in their envisioning of alternative, collective scenarios that challenge and fundamentally change longstanding paradigms in the world of design.
