A place to pause on a hot day can begin with shade, stone and water. Aquifère brings these elements together in the orange garden of Villa Medici in Rome. Designed by PRÌA and VELIA with climate consultant TRIBU, the built prototype formed part of the 2026 Festival des Cabanes, exhibited from 20 May to 28 September.

A low platform sits among the existing trees. Rounded terracotta vessels rise from its surface at different heights, while the trees continue through openings in the stone. The arrangement leaves routes between the vessels, giving visitors room to move through the installation rather than simply look at it from outside.

The platform uses by-products from travertine extraction in Tivoli, near Rome. Both the stone and the unglazed terracotta contain small pores that can hold moisture. Pipes connect the water-filled vessels, known as ollas. As water reaches their surfaces and evaporates, it takes heat with it. The installation combines this process with the shade and air movement already present in the garden.

The project makes a normally hidden environmental process visible through a simple set of objects. A vessel, a pipe connection and a porous slab each have a clear role. The section drawing explains their relationship to the trees above and the ground below. Its architecture lies in how these parts work together, as much as in their shapes.

TRIBU used the installation as a site for measurement. The team recorded air temperature, humidity, radiant conditions and air speed, alongside the surface temperatures of the platform and vessels. Sensors tracked conditions through the summer, while visitor feedback added another way to understand comfort.

In its 23 August 2026 report, TRIBU said the full results were still to come. That makes Aquifère useful as an experiment to examine, rather than a promise of identical cooling in every public space. Shade, wind, humidity and water supply would all need attention in another setting.

The wider question is practical: can the places where people sit and gather also help them cope with summer heat? Aquifère offers a small, built test of that idea. Its combination of quarry by-products, porous vessels and existing planting gives a familiar garden setting an additional environmental role.

The photographs shown here are by Rory Gardiner; the cooling sketch and section are by PRÌA + VELIA. Images were sourced from the gooood project gallery, released on 7 September 2026. Further project information is available from VELIA.