Rain Room
Opened in May 2018, Rain Room is part of the Sharjah Art Foundation Collection and the first of a series of artist-designed permanent spaces.
Designed by Random International, the Rain Room (2012) is an immersive installation inviting you to walk through a downpour of continuous rain without getting wet. The responsive environment follows visitors as they navigate the darkened underground space, preventing the rain from falling directly above any detected human presence.
This site-specific installation uses 2,500 litres of self-cleaning recycled water, which is controlled through a system of networked 3D tracking cameras.
Sharjah’s Rain Room marks the Middle East premiere and the first permanent installation of this project by Random International. The work has previously been on view at the Barbican, London (2012); MoMA, New York (2013); Yuz Museum, Shanghai (2015) and LACMA, Los Angeles (2015–2017).
The Rain Room building in Sharjah has been designed by Sharjah Art Foundation and the UAE-based SpaceContinuum Design Studio in collaboration with Shape Architecture Practice + Research, Sharjah.