AWARD YEAR
2019
CATEGORY
Community
GOALS
Sustainable Cities & Communities
KEYWORDS
drinking water, alternative to plastic, sustainable cities
COUNTRY
United Kingdom
DESIGNED BY
Michael Anastassiades is a London-based industrial designer. He has designed objects for leading manufacturers including FLOS, Cassina and Bang & Olufsen. His work features in the permanent collections of MoMA and the V&A.
The London Fountain Co. is an initiative of design consultant, curator and writer Jane Withers and publisher and arts patron Charles Asprey. Their hope is to implement drinking fountains across London and beyond.
WEBSITE
http://thelondonfountaincompany.london/about.html
The Fleet drinking fountain by The London Fountain Co.
Design that revives lost civic traditions of free public drinking water provision
The London Fountain Co. has been formed to help bring back public drinking fountains, using good design to inspire change and provide the infrastructure to enable the shift to a sustainable drinking water culture that does not rely on single-use plastic bottles.
Drinking fountains were introduced to cities in the C19th as a solution to a public health crisis. Much of this infrastructure has fallen into disuse, replaced by bottled water. Now the health of the planet is at stake as disposable plastic bottles poison the ocean.
The Fleet drinking fountain is designed for the public realm by Michael Anastassiades. The cast bronze prototype is installed in the V&A, with further public installations planned for 2019. The fountain is designed for refilling bottles as well as direct drinking, and is sensor operated for hygiene and durability. Conceived as a robust addition to the streetscape, The Fleet’s form and materiality references the tradition of British street furniture.
