In this delicate urban landscape, glass buildings form the layout and fish are the residents. Fishpond City Xi'an is a permanent installation created by Vienna-based art collaboration Raoul Bukor and Christian Lindle. The small-scale model of urban development in China stands at a scale of 1:60 and reflects the architecture and landscape reconstruction in the nearby city of Xi'an.
The installation includes 56 glass boxes, a total of almost 3,000 gallons of water, 1,500 goldfish, 29 multicolor LED lights, and about 900 gallons of filtration material. Arranged in a typical grid-like system, the cityscape includes skyscrapers as well as a long stretch of park. The green area, which is a crucial part of any urban landscape, serves as fundamental to this city replica because it contains a large biological filter system.
The thousands of goldfish inhabit the buildings and symbolize a human population. The artists chose to use goldfish because, “The goldfish is a traditional Chinese element with a high cultural value. Its cultural significance as a symbol for good luck and fertility works as a bridge to perception and identification of the visitor with the space exhibited.”
