Sculpture Verbeke Foundation

Nigel built this stunning sculpture at Verbeke foundation. He made the designs himself and started building for several months. It is an aquaponic-like system. The building is still under construction...

  • Project : Sculpture
  • Client : Verbeke Foundation
  • Location : Stekene, Belgium

It mimics a natural way of water purification, like a mountain in nature collects and purifies rain, so the water also comes together in this system. It is a symphony of nature where harmony exists between plants and fish, based on the idea of aquaponic. Water is pumped up to the top spiral and slowly descends to the center point through a shaft that is filled with different layers of rocks and minerals. In the shaft there are all kinds of water-purifying plants. This water then flows back to the source, the center of the spiral where fish are living. Fish produce wastewater and that is perfect nutrition for the plants, and vice versa, the plants also provide nutrition for the fish, so it works as an ecosystem. The way it is built (with the columns) ensures that the system in the greenhouse remains cooled in a natural way and the fish do not burn in the summer nor that the water evaporates. It is architecturally inspired by ancient structures.