Wishing You Well
Public Installation Design + ConstructionThis project was a response to the 2022 Furnishing Utopia Public Access brief:
Inspired by the Shaker legacy, Public Access challenges designers to focus on one Shaker value that resonates yet is sadly under-represented today: Sharing. Designers are invited to imagine and install a built installation for a public space in their own community that prompts an act of sharing, giving, or caring
The Wishing You Well began with our interest in urban water systems and the way rain moves through cities. Various systems have been designed to catch, contain, absorb, and transform water as it encounters the urban environment during its life cycle. The Shakers did this with particular sensitivity and creativity, harvesting the energy of natural waterways to power their woodworking machines and redirecting runoff to irrigate their crops in a sustainable manner.
By catching rain in a wishing well, we suspend a part of the water cycle in this moment of magic, drawing public attention to daily water levels—even annual climate patterns. The form of the Well references Shaker cast iron stoves and other utilitarian objects. A mirrored interior creates moving reflections as sunlight hits and coins are tossed in. Passersby will see reflections—magic at the surface—and make a wish. The Well offers both reflection and opportunity to consider others.
How do we feel when we make a wish on behalf of someone else?
By catching rain in a wishing well, we suspend a part of the water cycle in this moment of magic, drawing public attention to daily water levels—even annual climate patterns. The form of the Well references Shaker cast iron stoves and other utilitarian objects. A mirrored interior creates moving reflections as sunlight hits and coins are tossed in. Passersby will see reflections—magic at the surface—and make a wish. The Well offers both reflection and opportunity to consider others.
This project was part of the 2023 NYCxDesign Festival and was exhibited at Head Hi gallery.
Find open source designs here.
The Wishing You Well was installed within Fort Greene Park next to Brooklyn Hospital. Fort Greene Park is many things to many people—a dog park and community space, playground, and sledding hills, and it offers a place of solace and reflection.
