FountainAtlasSPACE, SHAPED BY FLOW

WATER LAB / 03 · ARCHITECTURAL FORM

Build a space
out of water.

Turn a span, an edge, or a perimeter into a moving boundary. Study the geometry first, then trace it back to nozzles, flow, and pressure.

← Nozzle experiments & hydraulic lab

FIVE WAYS TO DEFINE A SPACE

Choose a study. Change the dimensions. Read the engineering.

LIVE FORM FINDING · METRES

Water vault

Drag to orbit · Scroll / pinch to zoom · 1 m grid
NOZZLE ARRAY—
EXIT VELOCITY—
ON-STATE FLOW—
NET NOZZLE HEAD—

THE SPATIAL IDEA

ASSEMBLY

Section through the water

Nozzle layout / plan

METRES

FROM SPATIAL INTENT TO HYDRAULIC DUTY

Make the form possible.

Continuous calculations for the current design.
Water at 20°C · gravity 9.81 m/s²

Solve the target geometry

Build the head budget

H = Δz + v²/(2gCᵥ²) + f(L/D)U²/(2g) + KU²/(2g)

REQUIRED DUTY
ESTIMATED INPUT

Pᵢₙ = ρgQH / ηoverall, converted from W to kW. Flow uses Q in m³/s. The duty is a requirement, not a selected pump. Match it to a measured pump curve and verify the operating point.

Keep the boundary even

For identical outlets, q ∝ √H. Limiting a pressure-head decline to the value above limits the corresponding flow decline to 5%, relative to the nominal nozzle head. This is a balancing target, not a simulated manifold.

READ THE WATER AS ARCHITECTURE

Geometry is the beginning.

  1. 01 / DEFINE

    Draw the boundary.

    Choose the space, crown, edge or opening. Separate the visual water envelope from the solid supports and catch channels.

  2. 02 / RESOLVE

    Design the emitter.

    Match angle, opening and spacing to the form. Use a balanced header, flow conditioning and measured nozzle performance.

  3. 03 / CLOSE THE LOOP

    Receive and return.

    Collect the impact flow, allow for splash and wind drift, then size storage, treatment, suction and recirculation.

  4. 04 / TEST

    Prototype at scale.

    Check breakup, noise, wetting, valve response and maintenance access. A full-scale mockup tests what an ideal trajectory cannot.

How to read this model

These are conceptual water boundaries with ideal ballistic motion in still air. Stream widths are enlarged for visibility. The 1.8 m figure and reference plane show scale and ideal geometric clearance; they do not certify a dry or safe occupied space. Water carries no building loads. Solid headers need independent structural support. Air drag, wind, splash, surface tension, film stability, breakup, collisions, surge, NPSH and treatment design are outside this model.

STUDY THE BASIS

Equations & built ideas.

01 / MOTIONNASA · Ballistic flight

Position, velocity and gravity underpin the inverse arch solver.

↗02 / SUPPLYHydraulic Institute · Pipe flow

Darcy–Weisbach losses, Reynolds number and pipe roughness.

↗03 / EMITTERSOASE · Water screen nozzle

A real nozzle example: opening, flow and pressure influence a water film. It is not the slot model shown here.

↗04 / ARCHITECTURAL PRECEDENTWET · Jewel Rain Vortex

An oculus and a recirculating waterfall integrated into the architecture. A precedent, not a reconstruction.

↗

FROM AN EXPERIMENT TO A PRECEDENT

Who else has shaped water?

Explore artists, sculptures, landscapes, hot springs and water experiences from across cultures.

Open the reference library ↗
← Temple of Singularity