lab parts, plumbing objects and organic forms shape aquatopia drinking fountain

katrin spranger crafts a water supply from copper and glass

Katrin Spranger’s Aquatopia collection takes a critical view of our freshwater supplies, its increasing demand, and pollution. The sculptural series made from organic forms, plumbing objects, and lab parts imagines a dystopian future where water availability is scarce and the population is on the rise. In response, the glass and copper Aquatopia Water Fountain, co-created with a local community, repurposes an old industrial structure with a hanging 50-litre bell jar into a drinking fountain. Its rustic surface is adorned with organic forms such as leaves and flower petals using an electro-forming technique.

With this object, water journeys from the bell jar, through the tap and into the bowl, then condensates from liquid to vapor, playing with the notion of our existence. ‘We die and decay, leaving behind traces of the building blocks of life,’ notes Spranger. Similarly, limescale minerals deposited on the glass and the collecting bowl are the remaining traces of water, speaking of its absence and evoking organic decay.

Aquatopia Water Fountain depicts organic decay | all images courtesy of Katrin Spranger

aquatopia revalues and repuporposes

The Aquatopia fountain project was initially launched in 2019 as part of a community project in Camden. Together with K2 Academy’s co-founder and co-director, Kelvin Birk, Katrin Spranger was commissioned to develop an art project and conduct workshops for the borough’s residents. Highlighting the theme of ‘value’ and access to freshwater resources, community participants worked alongside the artist and together transformed an old industrial structure into a water system.

In 2022 work resumed on the fountain and additional embellishments made of organic materials were assembled around the frame and then coated using the electro-forming technique — a process in which a layer of copper is deposited on a surface that was made conductive. Featuring memento mori motifs, the final water sculpture includes several skulls and bones alongside a range of dried plants — reminding us of our dependency on water to create and sustain life — before coating them with copper, resembling the way organisms may perish and fade back to Earth.

A hanging, overgrown secret garden, draped around an industrial frame, surrounds an old milking jar suspended at its centre. Slowly, water drips from a tap at the bottom of the jar into a bowl underneath collecting the water, which subsequently evaporates at a slow rate, displaying the inherent, volatile properties of water. 

an old industrial structure with a hanging 50-litre bell jar repurposes into a drinking fountain

copper-coated skulls and bones, dried plants resemble the way organisms perish and fade back to Earth

organic forms like petals and leaves adorn the surface using an electro-forming technique

project info:

name: Aquatopia Water Fountain
designer: Katrin Spranger

designboom has received this project from our DIY submissions feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.

edited by: ravail khan | designboom