Rome Rain Rooms
Dezeen Competitions: Buildner’s latest competition, Rome Rain Romes, invites international architects to reimagine how cities can adapt to rising water.
Participants are tasked with designing small pavilions that harvest and store rainwater while offering “comfort and delight to the public”.
Organiser: Buildner
Competition: Rome Rain Rooms
Judges: to be announced
Registration deadline: 28 May 2026
Winner announcement: 15 September
Prizes: the first prize is $5,000, the second prize is $2,500, and the third prize is $1,000. An additional Buildner Student Award winner will be granted $1,000, and the Buildner Sustainability Award winner will receive $500
Competition overview
Rome Rain Rooms invites architects, designers, and visionaries from around the world to reimagine how cities live with water.
As climate change reshapes weather patterns, Rome faces longer droughts followed by sudden, intense downpours – moments of abundance that often go to waste.
This competition challenges participants to transform those fleeting storms into civic rituals, turning rainfall into both a shared experience and a sustainable resource.
Participants are asked to design small, reversible pavilions that harvest and store rainwater while offering comfort and delight to the public.
Each “rain room” should collect at least five cubic meters of water per storm and direct it to where it is most needed – neighbourhood trees, gardens, or non-potable fountains.
Beyond its technical function, each pavilion must celebrate the sensory and social dimensions of rain: its sound, reflection, mist, and movement through space. Architecture here becomes a medium between people and climate, something that makes weather visible, touchable, and communal.
Eligibility and judging criteria
The competition is open to all.
Rome Rain Rooms seeks visions that turn the storm into a civic moment, reminding the city that resilience, generosity, and imagination can still flow together.
Designers may choose any location within Rome that supports their narrative, from a courtyard or market edge to a quiet corner of a piazza.
Proposals may also take the form of modular systems that can be installed in multiple settings, adapting to different scales and communities.
There is no fixed site. Designers may choose any location within Rome that supports their narrative — from a courtyard or market edge to a quiet corner of a piazza.
The most successful proposals will combine environmental logic with emotional resonance – demonstrating that architecture can teach, cool, and inspire all at once.
How to enter
Designers can get information on how to enter here.
The first prize is $5,000, the second prize is $2,500, and the third prize is $1,000.
An additional Buildner Student Award winner will be granted $1,000, and the Buildner Sustainability Award winner will receive $500
Submission deadlines
Early bird registration is from 13 November to 14 January 2026.
Advance registration is from 15 January to 12 March, and last-minute registration is from 13 March to 28 May.
The final registration deadline is 28 May. Closing date for submission is 29 June.
Winners will be announced on 15 September.
About Buildner
Buildner publishes international architecture competitions, providing a platform for designers and architects to showcase their work and shape the future of the built environment.
For over ten years, the platform has published more than 140 competitions and had over 400 guest jury members.
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