The Solar Rain Tree pavilion
The Solar Rain Tree Pavilion was designed to be a special public art gathering place that makes electricity from the sun, and collects and stores rainwater for the local community in which it is installed. Most of the electricity made with a series of solar panels mounted around the pavilion, is sent into the local power grid, and some of it is used to light the structure at night and to charge the electronic devices used by the visitors.
Rainwater is collected with the funnel shaped portion of the pavilion, and sent into large rainwater storage tanks installed below the pavilion. That water is used to irrigate the surrounding landscape during dry periods.
A seating bench for visitors is built into the perimeter of the center support column, along with a series of electrical outlets that visitors can use to charge their electronic devices. A series of white colored pipes branch out around the perimeter of the structure, symbolically referring to roots of a large tree that send the collected sunlight and rainwater back into the earth.
The Solar Rain Tree Pavilion is one in a series of public art projects that illustrate ways in which art can function in new ways to help combat global climate change.
Status: Unbuilt
