GROUND WELL
Public Art; Historic Site; Spatial Intervention
Location
Fenghuang Valley, Luanping County, Hebei Province, China
Overview
GROUND WELL is a site-specific public art proposal developed from research into a group of disused irrigation wells in Fenghuang Valley, Hebei, with the spatial intervention centred on one of these wells. Once used to draw groundwater for farmland irrigation, these wells gradually lost their practical function as local agricultural practices and water-supply systems changed.
Rather than treating the selected well as an isolated historical object, the project considers it as part of a wider relationship between water, land, agricultural production, and local memory. Its circular opening is expanded into a vortex-like landform, transforming the former irrigation structure into a walkable public space.
Site Research
Historical mapping and field investigation documented the well’s location, surrounding terrain, and its present condition as a rural landmark.
Form Development
Drawing and Model Studies
2019
Sketches, on-site spatial studies, and physical models explored how the relationship between water and land could be translated into a vortex-like, walkable form.
Digital Topology Development
2023
Digital modelling and topology studies examined the geometry, scale, circulation, and relationship between the vortex form and the surrounding ground.