Fountain of Ideas
How does nature inspire this award-winning artist?
Kenneth Yu, 16, Gold Medal, Architecture & Industrial Design. Images courtesy of the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers and the Scholastic Art & Writing Award Winners of 2021.
How did a snack inspire Kenneth’s design?
Kenneth Yu believes nature can lead to great design. “A lot of things in nature have beautiful structure and functional utility,” says Kenneth, 16, a junior at Elgin Park Secondary in Surrey, Canada. His dream is to improve people’s quality of life through the design of everyday objects.
Kenneth Yu
What inspired this design?
I created it for an industrial design class. At the time, we were studying biomimicry, which is when you incorporate characteristics of nature into a design. I observed a cucumber’s internal structure and thought I could incorporate it into a design.
How did you develop your idea?
Each seed in a cucumber is unique. Yet they work together to form a beautiful organic shape that resembles a staircase.
I decided to make water flow down through the center of a staircase, and eventually that idea evolved into this fountain.
Cucumber Transformation Sketches
How did you create the design?
First, I sketched the cucumber’s structure in pencil. Then I re-created the shapes in Rhinoceros 3D, a computer program for 3-D modeling. Next, I lifted the inner parts of the cucumber up and transformed the seeds into wings. I created staircases for the water to flow down. Then I used Photoshop to render the fountain in a park.
Initial 3-D Model
Why is aluminum a good material for your fountain?
I chose a metal because of how it will reflect light. Sunlight changes the look of an object at different angles. It can give off a warm glow at sunset and shine brilliantly at sunrise.
What did you want the viewer to experience?
The name of my fountain is Allagi, a Greek word that means “change.” The fountain’s organic shape looks different from every angle.
Do you have advice for aspiring artists like yourself?
Use technology to your advantage. Computers can make it easier for artists to overcome creative challenges.
Kenneth Yu won a Gold Medal for his design in the 2021 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.
To find out more about this program, visit artandwriting.org
