Fountain of Wealth

There are fountains that punctuate a plaza, and there are fountains that organize one. The Fountain of Wealth (Malay: Air Pancut Kekayaan; Chinese: 财富之泉) belongs firmly to the second kind. Constructed in 1995 alongside the main Suntec City development, it was listed by the Guinness Book of Records in 1998 as the largest fountain in the world.

A ring held aloft

The structure reads as a single bold gesture. A circular ring with a circumference of 66 metres rests on four large slanted columns, the whole work cast in silicon bronze. It occupies 1,683.07 square metres and rises to 13.8 metres. The base sits underground, ringed at its perimeter by the main basement restaurant area, while the ring itself is what the visitor meets at ground level. Apart from the water cascading down from the ring, the centre holds a large jet that is occasionally turned on, spouting higher than the ring’s top.

Geomancy made architecture

The symbolism is not decorative afterthought; it shaped the form. According to Chinese geomancers, the inward flow of water signifies wealth and life pouring in. The bronze ring was based on the Hindu Mandala, a figure of unification and equality. Within the larger plan of Suntec City, the structure is meant to resemble a human hand: five tower blocks stand for the fingers and thumb of a left hand rising from the ground, and the fountain forms a gold ring set in the palm. I. M. Pei, Suntec’s designer, described the buildings as forming “a whole,” with the fountain “welding” them together.

The ritual at the centre

At certain hours the water is stilled and the architecture turns participatory. With the main fountain switched off, visitors are invited to walk three times around the mini fountain at the centre of the base, for good luck.

Makers and afterlife

The sand-cast silicon bronze — including all formwork and patternmaking — was designed, manufactured, and installed by DCG Design and Meridian Projects of Melbourne, Australia, in 1995. The fountain was later upgraded by OASE Living Water: the water screen, projectors, and lasers were removed, the central path relocated and rebuilt, and Laminar Jets and Varionaut-driven jets installed, the centre fountain receiving new LED fixtures.