Coolil’O, the fountain that refreshes the public space

The project begins Coolil’O starts in 2018 when Water Connect decides to respond to a call for projects launched by Eau de Paris, which wanted to experiment with innovative devices to cool public space. A request that echoed the increase of heat islands in cities, linked in large part to global warming. Thus, Water Connect, which had already set up several devices of this type in public spaces, decided to call upon Noir Vif to design an urban object that would combine misting and the provision of free drinking water.

Although it has been located in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, between rue Charles Moureau and avenue Edison, the design of Coolil’O required a lot of thought on the part of the designers. Indeed, the installation of a device in the public space requires to take into account the regulations related to urban furniture (minimum radius of curvature, minimum height, detectability with a cane for the blind, accessibility for all users…), the functions stated in the specifications (distribution of drinking water and misting) but also to find the right materials. In this case, stainless steel offered great strength and corrosion resistance, which was logically necessary. However, since its installation in September 2019, regulations regarding misting have changed. It is now forbidden to spray downwards, which has led to a deactivation of the functionality on the Coolil’O fountains.

In terms of aesthetics, the Noir Vif studio worked on a design whose shape would be compatible with Parisian architecture, which is often divergent depending on the neighborhood, while respecting its initial objective: to offer an innovative solution to its users. Following this successful installation, a second Coolil’O fountain, in a different color, was installed in a schoolyard in the 4th district.