Cathedral of Rain
A sound experience of the storm tank in the Hermanos Castro park in Gijon, by Juanjo Palacios
Catedral de la lluvia (Cathedral of Rain) is a sound installation based on the construction work for a storm tank under the Hermanos Castro park in Gijon, and its later functioning after it opened. Storm tanks are huge underground constructions built to retain rainwater after heavy downpours. They minimise the risk of flooding and avoid the direct flow of the first rush of rainwater, which carries most dirt, into rivers and streams.
This artwork consists of a sound composition with a duration of 2 hours and 30 minutes which makes people aware of the storm tank under the Hermanos Castro park in Gijon through its sound and through the echoes of the sound print left by its construction. The recordings register from the first sounds of the construction of the tank in June 2020, including the laying of its foundations, to those when it first came into operation following the heavy rainfall in Gijon in November 2021. Photographs and architectural blueprints provide a subtle accompaniment to the sound.
Catedral de la lluvia underscores the importance of an often undervalued industrial heritage, and pays tribute, through the field of sound art, to an underground architecture that is key to the drainage of cities and to the preservation of biodiversity in our environment, now made visible and audible for all citizens.
Artist: Juanjo Palacios
Curated by: Pablo de Soto and Patricia Villanueva
Photographs: Art & Life productions
Designed by: Juan Jareño
Produced with the support of EMPRESA MUNICIPAL DE AGUAS DE GIJÓN, S.A. (EMA).
