Michael Anastassiades
Michael Anastassiades is a contemporary London-based industrial designer. He creates objects that are minimal, ultilitarian and almost mundane, yet full of a vitality one might not expect. He has designed objects for leading manufacturers including FLOS, Cassina and Bang & Olufsen. His work features in the permanent collections of MoMA and the V&A. This is his first drinking fountain design, as well as his first design for the public realm.
Photograph: Andy Stagg
The London Fountain Co. has commissioned ‘The Fleet’, a new drinking fountain designed by Michael Anastassiades. Conceived as a robust and appropriate addition to the streetscape, The Fleet’s monolithic form references the tradition of great British street furniture such as the letterbox and phone box.
The fountain has been designed for refilling bottles as well as drinking and is suitable for both indoors and outdoors. It is operated by a sensor which, discreetly inserted into the form, ensures functionality and durability in public spaces. The prototype has been developed for manufacture in collaboration with drinking fountain specialists.
The Fleet Family of drinking fountains will include a wall-mounted version and one for parks with the additional water provision for children and pets. As well as bronze, this fountain is designed to be made in a range of different materials, including stone and cast-iron. The prototype was cast in the Archibald Young Foundry in Glasgow.