Eau de Couture is a project realized in Jardin Akarova, a collective garden sitting in front of the social housing blocks of the Brigittines neighbourhood in the heart of Bruxelles. The project consists in the co-construction and renovation of a public space, together with inhabitants and local associations, revolving around a rainwater collection tank for irrigation and a vegetated buffer area for overflow water.

Eau de Couture is part of the projects Initiatives Durables 2020, focused on urban agriculture and promoted by the municipality of Bruxelles Ville. The material re-use approach is one of the main design principles of the project team. In this sense the collaboration between the municipality and the design team has been constructive and dynamic: Bruxelles Ville made available the warehouse where all the materials concerning public spaces are stocked. The base of the rainwater tank and the overflow system is designed re-using the materials found in the warehouse.
In Eau de Couture we aimed to design a prototypical device to collect water that, by an economy of means, helps to better define and enhance public spaces. We imagine that Eau de Couture can be adopted in different locations according to the specificities of each context.