20 different types of rain, from drizzle to downpour, are captured in a series of bottles for an installation by design studio Nendo.

Details: Created for the 2014 Fall edition of Maison & Objet in Paris, who asked designers to consider the relationship between language and design, the word rain was chosen for its many nuances in Japanese, a language that has dozens of words for rain depending on the condition and time of day.

The exhibit consists of 20 clear acrylic bottles lined-up, each containing a different kind of ‘rain’. ‘Kirisame’, ‘biu’ and ‘kosame’ refer to different degrees of fine drizzle, while ‘niwaka-ame’ is a sudden downpour.

‘Mizore’ is sleet, and a ‘yudachi’ falls in the evening. ‘Kisame’ is rain that drips from the ends of tree branches, and ‘kaiu’ is rain that falls mixed with dust and pollen.

Seasonal rains were also included, from the ‘samidare’ that falls in the spring, to ‘shigure’, rain specific to autumn and winter.

“By exhibiting twenty different kinds of ‘rain’, we hoped to express Japanese culture’s unique relationship to nature and the depth of this relationship.” says Nendo.

Photos: Hiroshi Iwasaki

+ nendo.jp