There Is A Castle On A Cloud, Making More Clouds

Looks like Cosette from Les Miserables may have been right: There really could be a castle on a cloud someday. Well, techinically it’s a water tower, but close enough.

Atelier Ramdam Architects have designed this precarious structure for Latina, Italy. And they’re gonna make it rain. Literally. As seen below, the structure will bring evaporated water from the foot of the structure up through the central column to the canopy at the top. The supply will be stored here, partially used to water the vegetation that will be grown at the top. But also emanating from the bottom of the canopy are, you guessed it, real clouds, bringing some rain back down to the basin below and making the whole thing look divinely inspired.

But wait, it gets cooler. To add to the floating effect, the shaft of the structure is encased with reflective steel making the “castle” at the top seem entirely unsupported, floating in its own cloud aura of technical ingenuity.

Now this would be amazing enough if you could just look at it from afar, but visitors will be able to ride up the tower in an elevator to a pavilion at the top to enjoy gorgeous Italian views, bask in the vegetation, and, if one of the guys in the picture below has his way, watch a crazy man with a guitar he doesn’t know how to play as he does a Michael Jackson impression.

(Atelier Ramdam via designboom via Gizmodo)