Design Map · Eindhoven
The Milk That Dreamt of Gold: a Fable from the Fountain
Graduation project by Audrey Ihirwe at Design Academy Eindhoven, 2026. Shown during Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven on Design Map, location F5.
‘The Milk That Dreamt of Gold: A Fable from the Fountain’ reimagines the wishing fountain as a story about how cows’ reproduction and milk production are controlled for profit. The fountain’s gold-tinted water casts milk as liquid gold. Tossing a coin links the wish for fortune to an industry that turns animal life into economic value. The fountain is crowned by a 6-litre ceramic udder positioned above ten similar udders that together hold 60 litres. They represent the roughly tenfold increase in a dairy cow’s daily milk yield achieved through selective breeding and genetic engineering. Memories of Audrey Ihirwe’s grandmother rearing European Friesian cows for their higher milk yields rather than local Rwandan breeds, inspired the designer to trace this choice through field research in Rwanda and the Netherlands. The project shows how pastoral ideals of natural abundance can conceal intensive management and forced reproduction underpinning industrial dairy farming.