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Copyright © 2005 Victor Zaveduk, All Rights Reserved
Designed by Spanish artist Jaume Plensa, The Crown Fountain consists of two, 50-foot tall, glass block towers at each end of a long, shallow reflecting pool. Water cascades from the top of the towers while video images are displayed on LED screens embedded in the sides facing the pool. The screens project video images of the faces of a broad cross-section of 1,000 Chicagoans. In an updated reference to the traditional use of gargoyles in fountains - where the faces of fanciful creatures are sculpted with open mouths to allow water, a symbol of life, to flow out - Plensa has these faces blink, smile, and periodically purse their lips as water flows through an outlet creating the illusion of water spouting from their mouths. The Crown Fountain anchors the southwest corner of Millenium Park, a spectacular public space filled with the work of world-class artists and architects, and is a delight to the children of the city as they cavort in cascading waters. A fountain is the memory of nature, this marvelous sound of a little river in the mountains translated to the city. For me, a fountain doesn't mean a big jet of water. It means humidity, the origin of life. – Jaume Plensa
Shortcut to this page: http://geoimages.berkeley.edu/wwp_rss/go/n1169
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