WATER IN THE GREEN
Drinking fountains at Expo 2020 reinterpret the sabeel, explore the UAE’s complex relationship with water, and showcase UAE-based design talent.
By Jumana Abdel-Razzaq
Set to welcome millions of visitors from October 1st, Expo 2020 will bring some cutting edge ideas and concepts to the UAE, where they will be showcased alongside innovative designs by leading local creatives.
Unveiled at Jameel Arts Centre in November 2019 were the winners of Sabeel 2020, a programme that invited UAE-based designers to reimagine the humble sabeel—a traditional water fountain that provides relief to passers-by and travellers, a potent symbol of shared humanity and collective responsibility. Designers, architects and artists were invited to interpret the sabeel as a design feature for the Expo 2020 public realm, capturing the spirit of the UAE and the region’s cultural values while providing fresh water for visitors during the Expo’s six-month run.
The 39 fountains join a plethora of public realm installations that will dot the site. They also figure in the event’s legacy plans, which will see the 4.38-square-kilometre site transformed into District 2020, a smart and sustainable city anchored in the needs of its urban community.
The two winning designs, chosen from more than 100 submissions by an international jury, were by design duo Alia Bin Omair and Faissal El-Malak, and Sharjah-based architecture and design practice Architecture + Other Things. The latter’s design, Water in the Green, explores the possibility of creating an innovative, living, and sustainable public drinking fountain.
“We were inspired by the proposition to explore the fountain as a meeting place for visitors from all over the world to connect at the Expo site,” says Faysal Tabbarah, Associate Dean at the College of Architecture, Art and Design at the American University of Sharjah and co-founder and architect at Architecture + Other Things. “This has a strong historical legacy in the UAE where the sabeel, or public water fountain, became a site for sharing a scarce natural resource with the community. Therefore, the sabeel is a microcosm of the larger relationship of the UAE to its water resources.”
Tabbarah and co-founder Nada Taryam wanted to respond to two important elements of Expo: the commitment to working together to build a better future; and sustainability in relation to scarce resources—particularly water.
The designers also wanted their unique fountain concept to be an educational piece, helping to familiarise visitors with the environment and flora of the UAE. They did this by integrating local plants that are common to the country’s natural environment and thrive in its arid climate—including thafra (tephrosia apollinea), harm (salsola imbricate), and suwayd (suaeda aegyptiaca).
“These flora, which demonstrate resilience despite their size, have had many historical and cultural functions and reflect the UAE’s relationship to the more unseen aspects of its environment,” Tabbarah says.
The plants, he explains, will be irrigated by water collected as the fountain is used. Distributed across the vast Expo site, each fountain will develop a unique identity as the plants grow and change colour throughout the duration of Expo, creating a living and evolving project.
As for its legacy, Tabbarah hopes these plants will live and grow and contribute to the natural landscape far beyond the run of Expo. He is keen to see how each of the fountains will adapt to its microclimate within the Expo site and how this will create different opportunities for flora interaction.
“In the end, every one of the fountains can become radically different from the others just by virtue of its relationship to its environment,” Tabbarah says.
Photo: Faysal Tabbarah
