Naturalism or Industrialism – Project Plans and Alternatives

For my main project I plan to build a water fountain that doubles as a planter. I hope to build a fountain that is functional in a design that can house multiple plants, and if possible, water the plants at some regular interval. My first idea for an aesthetic for this project was the naturalist aesthetic, as it lends itself to the functionality of the project well. To incorporate this aesthetic, I thought it would be interesting to house the fountain section in a faux-waterfall design. By using rocks to cover the pipeage and add some ambience, mimicking the small waterfalls found in streams. In this design there would also be empty voids to pot and plant different plants, possibly plants that can be found here in Colorado. I was also thinking about going in a different direction, with having the fountain spray out like a sprinkler from the top, to simulate rain, with a ring of soil around it to plant in. While I like both of these ideas I fear they might be a bit plain, but I am hoping that some inspiration strikes as I start to construct the project.

As the aesthetic I chose for my main project is naturalism, I thought I would explore two conflicting aesthetics in futurism and industrialism. Both these aesthetics I felt at first didn’t fit my project idea, however after some brainstorming I came up with some ideas that I find interesting. For the futurism aesthetic I thought it would be cool to incorporate the floating fountains, where the pipe is hidden by the waterflow. Then, instead of flowers surrounding the fountain I was thinking to create some swooping metal designs, emblematic of the futuristic aesthetic. While I think that this could be an interesting installation, especially from the artistic point of view, I also do not want to lose the functionality of a flower bed from the original project idea. This led me into exploring my other opposite aesthetic in industrialism. The industrialist aesthetic is much more obviously the opposite aesthetic to naturalism, so I originally thought I would find no inspiration here. However, taking some from the futurism example, I felt that this aesthetic would be a great way to blend the functionality of my project with some room for some artistic exploration. One idea I came up with is to house the fountain in an airduct looking casing. Then, instead of having a rocky or dirt bed, to have a concrete or concrete looking base. This concrete would be heavily worn and cracked, with the idea of being able to plant between the cracks of the concrete. While this idea poses some logistical problems, such as having enough space to plant while keeping the cracked sidewalk look and the possible heavy weight of it, I think it would be a cool path to explore. The first step in my project is to build the skeleton, mainly the fountain portion, which would be the same for all designs. I would love to hear any opinions on these ideas above or any suggestions to explore for the future.