The power and richness of one of Earth's most important elements are celebrated in 'A Beat of Water', a site-specific installation designed by BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group and created with bathroom product specialist Roca. Set in Milan's Università Statale for the duration of Milan Design Week 2025, the piece captures water's mesmerising quality and immersive nature while raising awareness for its consumption and management.
'A Beat of Water': capturing one of Earth's most precious resources
The exhibit is a flowing, visually arresting, 14m-long and 3.5-high structure. Made of a total of 300m of galvanised steel pipes, this is an installation that plays with all the senses; featuring the continuous circulation of water, it invites visitors to sit and be embraced by the element's dynamic movement, vibration, steady rhythm and soft, calming sounds.
It also brings the 'back of house' to the fore, explains BIG founder Bjarke Ingels. '[When I started working on it] I thought, let's make something unexpected – a pavilion out of plumbing. It is about the hidden beauty of the everyday.'
The water used in the design travels in a closed-loop system, so there is no wastage – which also highlights the need for sustainable treatment of the precious resource. At the heart of the concept lies Roca Connect, Roca’s cloud-based smart water management system, showcasing how design and innovation can meet, merging contemporary flair, state-of-the-art technology and sustainable architecture.
Ingels continues to explain how the project resonates within the architecture firm's approach around hedonistic sustainability: 'This idea that the sustainable city or the sustainable building or the sustainable product is not only better for the environment, it can also be more enjoyable. And I think another aspect is what we call social infrastructure, like another oxymoron, that the kind of back-of-house projects, like a parking structure, can be fun. In this kind of project, like with this one here, an early adoption of new technology is really important.'
Check out more of our Milan Design Week 2025 highlights
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How was Carlo Ratti’s ‘Intelligens’? Wallpaper* editors discuss the 19th Venice BiennaleHaving visited ‘Intelligens’, the 19th Venice Biennale's main show by curator Carlo Ratti, the Wallpaper* editors discuss what they saw at the world's biggest global architecture festival
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Remembering Koyo Kouoh, the Cameroonian curator due to lead the 2026 Venice BiennaleKouoh, who died this week aged 57, was passionate about the furtherance of African art and artists, and also contributed to international shows, being named the first African woman to curate the Venice Biennale
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Huma Bhabha and Alberto Giacometti share an emotional connection in dialogue at the BarbicanThe Barbican's new series, Encounters, sees Alberto Giacometti's work paired with a series of artists
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How was Carlo Ratti’s ‘Intelligens’? Wallpaper* editors discuss the 19th Venice Biennale
Having visited ‘Intelligens’, the 19th Venice Biennale's main show by curator Carlo Ratti, the Wallpaper* editors discuss what they saw at the world's biggest global architecture festival
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Discover architect Ico Parisi’s modernist sanctuaries on the banks of Lake ComoA string of sculptural sanctuaries by architect Ico Parisi on the banks of Lake Como helped cement the area as the heartland of Italian modernism; we explore his work in an article from the Wallpaper* archives
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Explore this new Lake Como villa and its powerful, cinematic viewsA Lake Como villa by Tuckey Design Studio celebrates the history of its site and references the surrounding landscape through materiality
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2026 Olympic and Paralympic Torches: in Carlo Ratti's minimalism ‘the flame is the protagonist’The 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Torches for the upcoming Milano Cortina Games have been revealed, designed by architect Carlo Ratti to highlight the Olympic flame
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Anni Albers' weaving magic offers a delightful 2-in-1 modernist showcase in MilanA Milan Design Week showcase of Anni Albers’ weaving work, brought to life by Dedar with the Josef & Anni Albers Foundation, brings visitors to modernist icon, the BBPR-designed Torre Velasca
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This Milan Design Week installation invites you to tread barefoot inside a palazzoAt Palazzo Litta, Moscapartners and Byoung Cho launch a contemplative installation on the theme of migration
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Milan Design Week: Dropcity challenges detention space design with 'Prison Times'Dropcity's inaugural exhibition 'Prison Times – Spatial Dynamics of Penal Environments', opens a few days before the launch of Milan Design Week and discusses penal environments and their spatial design
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What is hedonistic sustainability? BIG's take on fun-injected sustainable architecture arrives in New YorkA new project in New York proves that the 'seemingly contradictory' ideas of sustainable development and the pursuit of pleasure can, and indeed should, co-exist
