003 Lady Shaw Water Fountain 邵逸夫夫人樓噴水池 2000. The Chinese University of Hong Kong 香港中文大學
Team Lee Shu-fan, Tsui EddieClient Estate Management Office, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
[The Necessity of Silence]*
Surrounded on all four sides by multiple storeys of classrooms and walkways, the courtyard at the lady shaw building is absurdly public - overly quiet, lack of focal points and vegetations, visually enclosed - students and staffs alike feel the sense of surveillance and constantly have the sense of being monitored.
The potential of the space is being public in the truest sense - a space where you can chitchat without being heard, study comfortably in solitude, or just watch people pass by without the awkwardness of staring - we decided to create a water fountain that provides water sound as a shield for quiet activities, while itself not so much of a landmark or focal point to overpower the space. The fountain stands as a thin wall just enough to allow waterpipes to go up inside, releasing water triggering down the uneven surface to generate gentle and random sound of water. At certain angle the fountain is almost invisible, reducing to merely a line. For the users, this fountain is intended not to be remembered of how it looks, but to be reminded on your memory of a place for studying or hanging out with the music of water splashes.
*title borrowed from Law Tsin-fung Angela
Surrounded on all four sides by multiple storeys of classrooms and walkways, the courtyard at the lady shaw building is absurdly public - overly quiet, lack of focal points and vegetations, visually enclosed - students and staffs alike feel the sense of surveillance and constantly have the sense of being monitored.
The potential of the space is being public in the truest sense - a space where you can chitchat without being heard, study comfortably in solitude, or just watch people pass by without the awkwardness of staring - we decided to create a water fountain that provides water sound as a shield for quiet activities, while itself not so much of a landmark or focal point to overpower the space. The fountain stands as a thin wall just enough to allow waterpipes to go up inside, releasing water triggering down the uneven surface to generate gentle and random sound of water. At certain angle the fountain is almost invisible, reducing to merely a line. For the users, this fountain is intended not to be remembered of how it looks, but to be reminded on your memory of a place for studying or hanging out with the music of water splashes.
*title borrowed from Law Tsin-fung Angela
設計 李樹勳, 徐志劍客戶 香港中文大學物業管理署
[必要的靜黙]*
邵逸夫夫人樓是個有點過於安靜的地方，而且通道都是面對面，因此不只視覺被屏蔽，更會讓人感到被監視。
但水聲可成這公共空間的緩衝：閒聊時不需怕被聽見、溫習時未會過份安靜，同時聲音亦減去了遊人交錯時相互凝視的尷尬感。噴水池成了靜態活動的屏障，其實體的存在並不是重點，故水牆的厚度設計成僅足夠給水管經過。從側面角度看，牆身會被簡化為一條線, 如藏在周邊空間中。而牆面不同大小不同厚度的玻璃則影響著水的流動，產生著溫和而隨意的水聲。
*標題借用羅展鳳女士同名著作
existing surrounding context
