Monument to the common man from Wutopia Lab

Chinese architect Yu Ting turned an old water tower into a conceptual memorial.

Памятник простому человеку от Wutopia Lab

An unusual architectural monument designed by the famous Chinese bureau Wutopia Lab has appeared on the territory of a former farm near Shanghai. Bureau chief Yu Ting dedicated the old water tower he transformed to the daily work of ordinary workers, who helped overcome a difficult period for China’s economy. 

Памятник простому человеку от Wutopia Lab

Photo: CreatAR Images

A cylindrical brick tower is located next to a former spinning mill, recently converted into a modern hotel. It was the history of this place that inspired Yu Ting to create an installation called Memorial of Everyman. The farm that once existed here is located on the territory reclaimed from the sea as part of the land drainage program that China actively pursued in the second half of the 20th century. «The current generation does not always understand well how difficult those times were—» the author says. — Young people from Shanghai were sent to work on new farms in order to somehow feed the population. There they were waiting for hard work and similar to army living conditions”» Pondering the topic of labor feat, Ting also remembered the story of the heroic workers of one of the dams who saved it from destruction by closing the leak with their own bodies. 

Памятник простому человеку от Wutopia Lab

Photo: CreatAR Images

Памятник простому человеку от Wutopia Lab

Photo: CreatAR Images

Imagining the hollow tower as a break in the dam through which water flows, the architect decided to «seal up» it with the help of a spectacular spiral staircase made of golden metal — it symbolizes people who sacrificed themselves for a common cause. Ting placed a map of Shanghai on the floor of the tower, and numbered the steps: each of them corresponds to one year of the hard struggle between man and the sea. Climbing the stairs, visitors get to a glazed observation deck, the ceiling of which is illuminated by two LED rings. In the dark, the tower seems to be crowned with a shining halo. 

Памятник простому человеку от Wutopia Lab

Photo: CreatAR Images

Памятник простому человеку от Wutopia Lab

Photo: CreatAR Images

«The illumination helped me turn the tower, which supplied people with water, into a kind of lighthouse, paying tribute to the daily work of an ordinary person,» says the author. At the end of 2021, the appearance of such a monument seems especially appropriate: no doubt, many visitors to the Memorial of Everyman will gratefully remember the thousands of doctors and nurses who are helping to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

Памятник простому человеку от Wutopia Lab

Photo: CreatAR Images

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