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The Architectural Ceramic Comb Fountain by Lily Clark

Los Angeles-based ceramicist Lily Clark has merged her love of ceramics, water, and hydraulic engineering in an architectural fountain that gives nod to a famed architect and his particular style of building. The Comb Fountain features a rectilinear profile that’s made by slipcasting, hand-building, and extruding parts with 3D-printed dies, revealing a minimalist design that references forms made to control water flow, like buttresses and headwalls.

Clark grew up in Los Angeles’ Silver Lake neighborhood where Rudolf Schindler’s iconic Frame Houses, houses built using a 4ft grid, were all around. Schindler’s sense of rhythm and scale came through in her drawing, and led to the terra cotta fountains being designed to follow a 2″ grid. Much like the Frame Houses, the Comb Fountain design is beautifully crafted and visually intriguing. And it’s probably equally satisfying to listen to as the water flows through the channels and cascades down into the reservoir.

Caroline Williamson is Editor-in-Chief of Design Milk. She has a BFA in photography from SCAD and can usually be found searching for vintage wares, doing New York Times crossword puzzles in pen, or reworking playlists on Spotify.