360 Magazine: Montreal design and rain in London

Nice new edition of 360 Concept and Design Magazine, inspiring as ever, this Chinese magazine with a keen eye for international design.

In this latest edition: a special on Montreal, Canada’s city of design, with special attention for agencies as Paprika (graphic design), Moment Factory (multimedia environments) and La Firme (interior and furniture design).

But the most fascinating work comes from London, not from Montreal. The ‘Rain Room’ was installed in The Barbican by a group of young designers rAndom International. The magical installation allows visitors to walk through pooring rain, without getting wet at all. The trick is that the place is controlled by high tech sensors that direct the water that falls from a 100 sq meter grate, suspended above the ground. As visitors step up on to the stage, identical vertical lines of driving rain begin to be repelled, as if each body is giving off a kind of invisible magnetic field. As you step further in, the rain closes around you, enveloping each silhouetted figure in a perfect cylindrical void, a startlingly surreal experience.