SOCIETY

Drinking fountains are a whole new level of comfort for citizens and guests of the city, a driver of tourism development, returning comfort to the city - historically, Almaty has always been the most “fountainised” city in the Asian sector of the former USSR. However, in recent years, the trend has been pushed aside by more pressing issues of infrastructure development and undeservedly forgotten.

Fountains: From Planning to Implementation

The RCA’s bold vision is now becoming a reality. The club, represented by Altynay Beissembiyeva (President 2022-2023) and her team took a course on integration of efforts with local authorities alongside the Mayor’s office (akimat), its head Mr Erbolat Dossayev and the Department of Public Health of Almaty. An MoU was signed stating that projects would be jointly run together with local authorities.

Erbolat Dossayev (Mayor of Almaty), Altynay Beissembiyeva (president RCA), Nataliya Drobysheva & Vitaliy Koltochnik (members of Board RCA)

Thus, this year 2 incubators will be handed to two perinatal and neonatal centres in Almaty. The Fountain Project will be the first joint collaboration with the Governor’s effective office managers and many others are to come in future.

The Faces of the Project

Amir Kabulov, Fountains Project leader, is a dedicated Rotarian, architect and designer. He is a graduate of Politechnico de Milano in the field of HoReCa public space design, known for his creative solutions in the world capitals of culture - London, Paris, Cannes and Milan.

The architect of the project is Ricardo Andrea Marini. Ricardo is the author of the reconstruction of Panfilov Street, one of the oldest in the historical center of Almaty, and many landmark projects in the capital of Kazakhstan, Astana. Previously he worked in the team of the famous Danish architect Jan Geil in Kazakhstan.

Ricardo Marini is a big fan of drinking fountains as an element of urban aesthetics and comfortable urban environment. His hobby is to photograph drinking fountains around the world and place them in virtual exhibitions. After hearing about the Almaty Rotary Club’s project, he immediately fell in love with its idea and decided to take part in it as a designer.

Gulmira Baigabulova, is owner of Urban Living, Member of the Public Council of the City of Almaty.

Famous Italian expert on architecture and urban planning, director of playmaking at Urban Living (flagship of the architectural business in Kazakstan) under the guidance of the famous urbanist and public figure of Almaty, Gulmira Baigabulova, partner and co-executor of the project.

Cultural Renaissance - as a new paradigm of Rotary Club of Almaty

The first fountain dates back to 3000 B.C; it was a goddess holding a basin. Water was sourced from a local spring. Early fountains used gravity instead of mechanical pumps to move the water. As we moved to live in urban settlements the way we gathered potable water needed to change. The ancient Etruscans, Romans and Greeks started to develop drinking fountains as part of public infrastructure.

The reality of providing water fountains in a city such as Almaty is to ensure that during all season’s water will be available. The provision of water fountains is an essential component of a ‘city for people’, it also is a great way to reduce single use plastic, that is so problematic in modern cities. There is also a cultural, spiritual, mystical and religious significance of drinkable water “offering to the water gods” meaning that today the phenomenon of throwing coins in a fountain still exists as an offering to these ideas. In Rome throwing one coin means you will go back to Rome, 2 coins means you will meet a Roman, and 3 means you will marry one! The Trevi fountain is one of the most famous fountains in the world. The city gathers approximately 3000 euros a day from fountains alone!

Almaty fountains get a special meaning in the context of the events that shook the world in January 2022. The January events left a deep mark on the perception of Kazakhstan and its southern capital. The city experienced enormous damage to the security, beauty, architectural look and economy of the city.

The Rotary Club of Almaty set a goal to return Almaty to its former comfort and sense of safety and harmony, to support the development of the native city in the spirit of sustainable development goals and the revival of the rich cultural and historical heritage of the southern capital. Almaty Fountains solves the problem of access to drinking water, combines the tasks of climate control, access to drinking water, zoo protection and social inclusion. It symbolises the permanent process of purification and renewal. It is an impetus for the development of tourism and the local economy.