Regentürme
Potential for adapting existing urban structures to sponge cities
Regentürme is an open source project in which citizens build rainwater tanks for green spaces in their neighbourhood in workshops. The towers collect rainwater from roof surfaces and direct it to plants and trees. The concept responds to the urban challenges of climate change by strengthening existing urban greenery and creating cool spaces. Funded by sponsorship, the project is to be implemented in as many cities as possible.
| student: | Luca Ganzert |
| mentored by: | Prof. Mareike Gast |
| year: | 2024 |
| level: | Master Thesis |
The Rain Towers project aims to place free-standing rainwater tanks on urban green strips to get them through dry and hot summer months and transform them into healthy green spaces that help to cool the city. Depending on their location, the rain towers can be equipped with benches and an interactive irrigation system.
The city is funding and initiating the project. City residents come together in local makerspaces to build the rainwater tanks for their neighbourhood.In a second step, the towers are erected by the city, which can be combined with community planting activities.
Rain Towers is an open source project: all information and instructions are made available via a platform. This is also used for networking and public relations work.
The prototypes are being tested in initial pilot projects. The project can then grow beyond the city limits. The rainwater towers collect rainwater from the roof surfaces before it enters the sewage system and store it. The water is then delivered to plants and trees via a controlled drip irrigation system. Two flags rise and fall with the water level and inform passers-by about the water balance in their city. The concept responds to the urban challenges of climate change by strengthening existing urban greenery, decoupling roof surfaces from the sewage system and creating cool places to spend time.