Sunken fountain (2006) Hans van Lunteren

On September 28, 2006, in the Vlinderbuurt in Kralingen, the Sunken fountain by Hans van Lunteren unveiled. The artwork is located on a square near the Jodenvijver, corner of Honingbijstraat and Vredenoordlaan. In 1990, in the former district of Kralingen - Crooswijk, the soil remediation of the Gasfabriek site in Kralingen was started. More than 15 years later, the visible work was completed and the area was redesigned. However, the underground soil remediation of the deep groundwater will continue for years. A water purification station has been built in the Vlinderbuurt for this purpose. In 2001, CBK Rotterdam proposed that the municipal district commission artist Hans van Lunteren to make a design for a work of art, as a tribute to the soil remediation of the former Gasfabriek site. After researching the existing water flows, tap water, heated groundwater, rainwater, ditch water and the purified groundwater, the latter in particular prompted the artist to make a design for a sunken fountain. The groundwater is pumped up and purified in a station in the Vlinderstraat. After purification, the water is pumped to the fountain. Above ground, a metal grid has been installed in the floor containing the leaves of ash, birch, maple and poplar: trees that occur in the immediate vicinity. Around this grid, at the same height as the paving, there is a hard stone edge. The composition of the leaves is built up from a slight rotation, as if the wind had made a small whirl with a stillness inside. The Vsunken fountain is visible through the grid: an armature of three successive stacked scales, into which the pumped water falls. As the leaf grate passes through the floor, the sound of the gently falling water is audible.