Viking Fountain — Arts et Métiers Gala

The Gala des Arts et Métiers

The Gala des Arts et Métiers is a flagship annual event in the Grandes Écoles circuit — 4,000 guests, a historic venue, and a student team responsible for designing and building the evening's centrepiece installation from scratch.

The 2026 edition chose a Viking theme: Norse mythology, raw materials, water, and fire.

My Role

I led a 10-person student build team across the full project lifecycle — from initial concept to assembly on the night. Responsibilities spanned structural design, hydraulic circuit, fabrication planning, sourcing, and on-site coordination.

The Installation

A large-scale fountain installed in the public square in front of the illuminated historic building:

• Tree structure: a bare-branch tree form, several metres tall, fabricated in metal and wood — water cascades from multiple branch outlets
• Hydraulic circuit: single-pump system distributing flow to independent jet branches at different heights, sized for equal pressure across variable pipe lengths
• Runic carvings: hand-crafted panels with Norse runes and decorative emblems
• Lighting integration: blue basin lighting and vegetation decoration framing the base

Engineering Challenges

Modular design — assembly under 2 hours

The installation had to be transported in pieces and assembled on a public square with no permanent fixings. The entire structure was designed modularly: each section bolt-connected, the hydraulic circuit pre-fitted on sub-assemblies. Assembly from unloading to water-on took under 2 hours.

Hydraulics at scale

Sizing a multi-jet system with a single pump: each branch was calculated for consistent flow despite different lengths and heights. Real-world deviations (pump head, fitting losses) were tested during dry runs and adjusted before the night.

Structural stability without permanent fixings

The tree structure had to support its own weight, dynamic water loads, and crowd proximity — without drilling into the historic square. Ballasted base design with cross-bracing.

Fabrication under student constraints

From concept to delivery in weeks. Methods chosen for speed: welded steel frame for the trunk, wood panels for runic sections, pre-assembled hydraulic modules. No over-engineering — every part served the deadline.

What This Demonstrates

This is a real installation, built under real constraints, seen by 4,000 people. It demonstrates:

• Team leadership at scale: coordinating 10 people across design, fabrication, sourcing, and assembly
• Engineering under pressure: making structural and hydraulic decisions with limited time and resources
• Multi-material fabrication: metal, wood, hydraulics — in the same project, on a student timeline
• Delivery discipline: modular design chosen specifically to guarantee < 2-hour on-site assembly