Olympic Sculpture Park

On December 28, 2018 By Alice WebbIn Parks, Public Art1 Comment

Situated on a former industrial site along Seattle’s waterfront, Olympic Sculpture Park consists of a series of dramatic angular surfaces that rise from the shoreline toward the urban center, bridging both a busy street and a railroad. A variety of sculptures accentuate the landscape, which ranges from open lawns to wooded slopes.

The park, which is part of the Seattle Art Museum, was completed in 2007.

Staircase entry from the waterfront area
There are also sloped walkways to the higher elevations of the park.

“Seattle Cloud Cover”
This piece is situated along a bridge over railroad tracks.

Photos by Alice Webb

Project design by Weiss/Manfredi

Freeway Park, Seattle

On February 1, 2018 By Alice WebbIn Historic Preservation, Parks2 Comments

I had the opportunity to visit Jim Ellis Freeway Park in downtown Seattle last June – an iconic public space designed by landscape architects Lawrence Halprin & Angela Danadjieva. It was the first park built over a freeway, and was conceived as a means of re-connecting neighborhoods that were severed from the downtown when Interstate 5 was built. The original section of the park was opened on July 4, 1976 – the nation’s bicentennial.

The park’s structures were designed in the brutalist style that was in vogue at the time, including board-formed concrete walls, planters, and fountain elements. Also, Halprin envisioned the character of this space as “freeway vernacular” (hence the emphasis on concrete), while representing the region’s mountain ranges with the various heights and shapes of the fountain structures. Waterfalls were a large part of the fountains during the early years of the park, and effectively masked the noise from vehicular traffic on the freeway below. However, due to maintenance and safety concerns, some of the fountains were shut off in more recent years. When I visited, no water was running, and I don’t know whether the fountains are turned on at all during the summer.

Plantings throughout the park were also designed to help mask freeway noise and to reduce vehicular pollution. The plant communities represent those typically found in the natural areas of the nearby mountains, and include many mature trees and broadleaf evergreen shrubs.

Urban parks built in this style in the decades following World War II have often suffered from neglect in recent years, but this space seems to be relatively well-maintained and appreciated, at least for now. I hope the interest and support for Freeway Park will persist into the future.

Main fountain structure in Freeway Park

Typical zig-zag walkway with seating

One of several park entrances

Smaller fountain structure next to one of the park’s plazas

Typical seating design

Main fountain structure, sans water

Photos by Alice Webb

Post Office Square, Boston

On February 23, 2017November 23, 2017 By Alice WebbIn Parks4 Comments

In Boston’s financial district, a lovely 1.7-acre park is nestled between the office buildings, giving workers and others a pleasant respite for enjoying lunch and relaxation. Post Office Square, also known as Norman B. Leventhal Park, features numerous trees and other plantings, an open lawn, a pergola along one boundary, fountains, and a café. This space is privately-owned and maintained, but open to the public. It was completed in 1992 on a site that was formerly occupied by an above-ground garage. Parking is now located below the property.

A central lawn, pergola with benches, and other seating areas provide plenty of opportunities for relaxation.

Fountain near the north end of the park

Seating wall along the west side of the space

Café with outdoor seating at the south end

The park is flanked by several attractive art deco buildings.

Photos by Alice Webb

Merging Nature with Architecture

On December 9, 2015November 23, 2017 By Alice WebbIn Architecture, Green RoofsLeave a comment

While in search of interesting examples of landscape architecture in Salt Lake City last spring, I came across a building and site with an unusual juxtaposition of formal and naturalistic design. The LDS Conference Center includes two sides that were designed to represent a mountainside, dominated by a series of terraces with coniferous trees. The other two sides of this massive edifice, however, are quite formal in design, with a prominent tower from which a water cascade falls to the street level below. The roof landscape also features this peculiar blending of nature and structure. It’s almost as if vegetation were taking over the building from the east and north sides. Many parts of this design are quite attractive, but I’m not so sure that the scheme works as a whole.

LDS Conference Center (view from south) – The vast and stark hardscapes of the roof and entry plaza contrast with the naturalistic planting design of the roof’s large meadow and trees.

LDS Conference Center (view from northeast), showing the planted terraces

Formally-designed elements of the building and landscape include a tower with a water cascade that falls down to the street level, and reflecting pools on the roof.

Up on the roof: One in a series of formal water features with a naturalistic landscape beyond

Tower view on the roof

The roof includes an expansive meadow with a view of the distant mountains

Northeast corner of the building with trees on terraces, suggesting a mountainside

Aerial images obtained from Google Earth; all other photos by Alice Webb

City Creek Center

On June 17, 2015November 23, 2017 By Alice WebbIn Commercial Sites, Water Features1 Comment

During a recent visit to Salt Lake City, I had some time to check out an upscale outdoor mall in the heart of the city. I typically dislike shopping malls, especially the indoor variety, but even many of the newer open-air types are trying too hard to duplicate quaint old urban streets (and failing). City Creek Center’s site, designed by the landscape architecture firm, SWA Group, has a different focus: celebrating a stream that historically ran through the downtown area, most of which is now buried underground. Each of two sections of this mall (divided by a city street) includes a recirculating water feature that represents a creek and flows along the middle of the shopping center’s walkways. The streams also meander in some places and turn to follow perpendicular entrance corridors, terminating with waterfalls at the connecting streets. A variety of fountains (including an interactive ground-level set of jets) can also be found along the pedestrian areas, combining with the creek to provide a pleasant water-centric experience. This is one mall that I actually enjoyed visiting – not to shop, but to hang out with an iced coffee and take in the sights and sounds around me.

The streams include numerous footbridges, most of which are made of decorative metal, as shown.

Native trout inhabit several areas of the creeks.

The recirculating creeks flow along the center of the walkways. Narrow slot drains on each side of the stream catch runoff from rainfall (one of which is visible in this photo). I have wondered how the mall handles snow removal, however.

A wider section of creek

A fountain accents one of the central intersections of the mall. Water on its opposite side falls in a sheet off the rim, contrasting with the stepped edge on this side.

Another interesting fountain at City Creek Center

The site design takes advantage of the area’s sloping topography, with a waterfall flowing into the mall from South Temple Street.

A recirculating waterfall also flows from the mall to the adjoining street south of the site.

Nature-themed fencing and chairs adorn the sidewalks on either side of the street that splits the mall. These areas were designed as part of the project.

Photos by Alice Webb

Water Features in the Landscape

On February 4, 2015November 23, 2017 By Alice WebbIn Parks, Plazas, Public Art, Water FeaturesLeave a comment

Aside from inducing a sense of calm, moving water tends to have a psychologically cooling effect, and it softens or masks surrounding noise. In the built landscape, it can be incorporated in many ways. Examples below illustrate some of that variety: a few of these features are meant to be interactive while others are not; several of them emphasize the water, which is more subtle or secondary in other cases; and some were designed to mimic nature whereas others are geometric in pattern or form. In all cases, the inclusion of water clearly adds to the appeal of these outdoor spaces.

Playful jets in Place des Festivals, Montreal, Quebec

Waterfall in the Split Basin, CityGarden, St. Louis, Missouri

Rock wall resembling natural strata with water seeping out, Teardrop Park, New York City

Fountain in the Japanese Garden, Portland, Oregon

Interactive fountain in Portland, Oregon, that alternates between jets and mist

Sculpture with trickling water in the Rose Test Garden, Portland, Oregon

Water feature in Portland, Oregon

Waterfall and channel, Chinatown Park, Boston

Mosaic fountain, Lincoln Road pedestrian mall, Miami Beach, Florida

Planter with falling water in a courtyard, Miami Beach, Florida

All photos by Alice Webb, except the following:
Photo with bear sculptures/fountain in Portland, Oregon, by Nancy Novell

Columbus Circle – An Urban Oasis

On September 21, 2013November 23, 2017 By Alice WebbIn Parks, PlazasLeave a comment

The central islands of most traffic circles in the U.S. are just planted areas, at best, with no consideration for public use. To be fair, the majority are either too small or in areas with too little pedestrian activity to work well as park spaces. Columbus Circle in New York City, however, has neither of these limitations. It also has the benefit of traffic signals at its three crosswalks/entrances. This century-old site underwent a major transformation in 2005, when a barren traffic island with a tall monument to Christopher Columbus was reshaped and expanded into a much larger circular park. It’s truly an oasis in the city, where traffic noise is muffled by the sound of the fountains that border the pedestrian space, and groups of trees along the perimeter provide some visual separation from the surroundings.

View toward Columbus Circle’s central monument

Long, wide benches arc around the perimeter of the central plaza.

Terraced plant beds form the circle’s boundary.

One of three entrances into the circle

Photos by Alice Webb

Since I was only able to photograph the space from the ground and in daylight hours during a brief visit to the city, here are links to two sites with impressive photos from above, showing the entire circle during the day and also at night:

Columbus Circle in daylight
Columbus Circle at night

On the Ground – Creative Pavements in Montreal

On August 9, 2013November 23, 2017 By Alice WebbIn Parks, Plazas, Streetscapes2 Comments

While visiting Montreal recently, I came across a number of public spaces with attractively-patterned pavement, many combining various types of stone. My favorite was Place d’Armes, which was renovated in recent years, but other fine examples are shown below as well.

Place d’Armes, in Old Montreal, includes smooth granite pavers in various shades of gray, interspersed with stripes of pinkish cobles. The custom-designed tree gates coordinate well with the coble patterns.

The cobbles in the streets surrounding Place d’Armes are repeated in random stripes within the perimeter of the plaza.

The large, central, open area of the Place d’Armes includes gray granite pavers punctuated by these pink ones sporting fleurs-de-lis.

The renovated Square Dorchester includes pavers with a range of textures. The smoothest ones shine both during day and evening, giving the walkways a glittery appearance.

Intermittent crosses in the pavement at Square Dorchester, formed with rough-textured pavers, signify the historic use of this space as a burying ground.

Stripes of colored concrete pavers in various hues and sizes at Place Ville Marie

Metal drainage grates serve nicely as linear accents in this park next to Montreal’s convention center.

An attractive pattern of concrete pavers and tree grates

Strips of white pavers repeat the linear pattern of water jets in the Place des Festivals.

Photos by Alice Webb

Portland Japanese Garden

On March 13, 2013November 23, 2017 By Alice WebbIn Gardens, Plants1 Comment

In Portland, Oregon, there is a lovely 5.5-acre Japanese garden situated in a hilly area west of the city center, within Washington Park. It is considered one of the most authentic Japanese gardens outside of Japan. I visited this serene setting in May a couple of years ago, and would like to share some of my photos.

Photos by Alice Webb

Rooftop Retreat: A Hospital’s Healing Garden

On November 29, 2012November 23, 2017 By Alice WebbIn Gardens, Plants, Therapeutic Gardens3 Comments

The Olson Family Garden at St. Louis Children’s Hospital

In recent years, outdoor garden spaces at hospitals have become more common, and are often included with the construction of new health care facilities. They are usually referred to as therapeutic or healing gardens. Studies have shown that access to nature in hospital settings can reduce pain and relieve stress, which in turn enhances the immune system and speeds healing. Patients aren’t the only ones to benefit; their families and heath care staff can attain relaxation in these spaces as well.

In October I had the pleasure of visiting the Olson Family Garden at St. Louis Children’s Hospital (in St. Louis, Missouri). The staff horticultural therapist kindly gave me a tour of this delightful space. Built in the late 1990s, this 8,000-square-foot rooftop garden is dominated by a lush array of greenery, mostly in raised planters, and also seasonally in movable pots. An abundance of plant materials is important in any type of outdoor healing setting. This space also includes winding paths; stepping stones through a shallow pool; fountains; interesting and fanciful art pieces; a goldfish pond; various resting spots; movable furniture; and telescopes for viewing a large park near the hospital grounds. Furthermore, the garden is lit for nighttime access and viewing.

This garden isn’t just for passive enjoyment, however. Horticultural therapy sessions are facilitated in this space, where patients engage in gardening and associated activities. These sessions have many social, psychological, physical, and cognitive benefits. In addition, programs involving crafts, puppet shows, music, and storytelling brighten the spirits of the children.

This beautiful scene in the garden is in springtime, viewed from the entrance. A rolling sphere fountain can be seen in the foreground. Blooming Redbud trees are situated in front of a circle of columns topped with translucent leaf-shaped panels, symbolizing nature.

This miniature garden appeals to all ages.

Stepping stones cross a wading pool…

…and continue between two raised planters.

The garden’s goldfish pond

A restful nook with playful windows overlooking Forest Park

A custom-made planter with kid- and adult- level kaleidoscopes

In the foreground is one of several fountains in the garden (turned off for the season). Long-range telescopes, in the background, allow visitors to view Forest Park.

A wonderfully whimsical art piece

First four photos by Gary Wangler, Horticultural Therapist, St. Louis Children’s Hospital.
Remaining photos by Alice Webb, blog author

Land Perspectives

Tag: fountains

Olympic Sculpture Park

Freeway Park, Seattle

Post Office Square, Boston

Merging Nature with Architecture

City Creek Center

Water Features in the Landscape

Columbus Circle – An Urban Oasis

On the Ground – Creative Pavements in Montreal

Portland Japanese Garden

Rooftop Retreat: A Hospital’s Healing Garden