Set within the landscape burned by the Tubbs Fire, this 30-foot-tall water tower is both a piece of infrastructure and a marker of what happened here.
Its 10,000-gallon tank provides water for everyday household use and a reserve for fire suppression. Gravity-fed by design, the steel structure is engineered to carry the considerable weight of the water in a highly seismic region. Its form takes cues from the utilitarian fire lookouts found throughout the American West, while an observation deck transforms the structure into a place to gather and take in the surrounding landscape.
Its red-orange finish takes a cue from the Golden Gate Bridge, giving the otherwise pragmatic structure an unmistakable presence in the landscape.
Part monument and part safeguard, the tower remembers one fire while preparing for the next.
