Water is another fine element, and designers are doing creative things with it. New plazas and parks provide water in all sorts of forms: waterfalls, water walls, rapids, sluiceways, tranquil pools, water tunnels, meandering brooks, and fountains of all kinds. In only one major respect is something lacking: ACCESS!!
One of the best things about water is the feel of it. People love to touch it: They stick their hands in it, stick in their toes and feet, and sometimes even splash about in it. However, in many places, water is only to be looked at. Let a foot touch it and a guard will be there in an instant. Not allowed. Chemicals in the water. Danger of contamination.
It's not right to put water before people and then keep them away from it. But this is what has been happening across the country. Pools and fountains are installed, then immediately posted with signs admonishing people not to touch. Equally egregious is the zeal with which many pools are continually emptied, refilled, vacuumed, and cleaned, as though the primary function of them was their maintenance.
Safety is the usual reason given for keeping people away. But there are better ways than electrocution to handle this problem. At the Auditorium Forecourt Fountain in Portland, Oregon, people have been climbing up and down a complex of sluiceways and falls for some six years. It looks dangerous - designer Lawrence Halprin designed it to look dangerous - and, since the day it opened, there have been no serious mishaps. This splendid fountain is an affirmation of trust in people, and it says much about the good city of Portland.
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Auditorium Forecourt Fountain
