Background

For my final project, I decided to create a tabletop water fountain. I was mainly inspired by minimal and modern architectural aesthetics in creating this design. This aesthetic is mainly characterized by geometry, sleek lines, monochromatic colors, and refined materials. I have always liked this aesthetic and found it to be very fitting for the function that I wanted my design to create.

After deciding on which aesthetic I wanted to go with, I started drafting design ideas using an AI image generator until I found an idea that I liked.

AI-Generated First Draft

I got a lot of useful ideas from this initial draft, however, this design wasn’t really functional as it doesn’t have a steady water flow and would most likely leak out.

Design Process

After doing some research, I decided that 3D printing would be the optimal and most efficient way to go about this design. I also wanted to 3D print the fountain as a one-piece design, as assembling multiple parts together would be quite difficult to do correctly without the risk of water leakage or structural defects due to water flow. I started modeling the fountain on SolidWorks without making any sketches and just going with what I wanted it to look like based on my aesthetic, the initial draft, and the functionality aspect. At first, I was aiming for a city skyline kind of look with water flowing down from the taller buildings to the smaller ones, but I had to make some adjustments so that I could fit a submersible water pump to create the flow.

3D Model

Eventually, I came up with the design pictured above. The buildings are stuck together to prevent water leakage, and the largest building is just enough to fit the water pump. I also left a small slit to the side for LED lights. After that, I went ahead and submitted it for printing.

Final Design

I was very satisfied with how the print came out and how the LED lights looked on it, however, I was not able to integrate the water pump as its wiring turned out to be too large. The next step would be for me to redesign the water pump slot and make another print. Overall, I’m very happy with the final product and I have satisfied all of my specifications other than the water flow with this design.

Source: (https://www.archdaily.com/932659/minimalist-modern-the-architecture-of-rural-retreats#:~:text=In%20contemporary%20architecture%2C%20minimalism%20combines,movements%2C%20and%20traditional%20Japanese%20architecture.)