| The cautions with which specific renovation measurements are made demonstrate circumspection. They are being examined on how to embeda new reality in a historical sample:it is not one that can be easily dismissed as conservative, and neithera jubilant welcoming of the new globalizing reality. The tower is specifically adapted to a local context, yet without turning into a pure replica of that context. On one hand, we want to keep the original water tower intact, only allowing necessary structural reinforcement and minor treatment on the existing window openings; on the other hand, the new installation – quite an exquisite device – was inserted into the interior tunnelof the tower. Two end-to-end funnels form the main part of the installation. While the smaller funnel on the top gathering daylight, the bigger one shapes the space in the middle with a seemingly endless depth, and is linked to many camera-lens-likewindow frames, which grow out of the tower body from every possible opening. On the bottom of the tower, theater steps are made to link the entrance and the view platform, which will become a “mini-theater” providing space for activities or projection for the local public. From there, the water tower becomes a simple sensory device of the external world, an ear, or a viewfinder... |
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