Water Gardens
So, this place. The Fort Worth Water Gardens. It was designed in the 1970s by famed architect Philip Johnson, and is in a style called “brutalism.” From the looks of the place, I’d say “brutalism” involves lots and lots of exposed aggregate concrete.
The gardens have three separate water features – an active pool (which was the site of a tragic multiple drowning in 1984), an aeration pool, and a meditation pool. This picture was taken beside the meditation pool.
All three fountain areas are interesting to visit (though it was hard to put the memories of the drownings out of my head at the active pool) – they were designed to give visitors different experiences at each location. While I didn’t necessarily stop and meditate at the meditation pool, it was a very calm place to sit in the warm winter sun for a few minutes. Until I saw some other things to photograph….
Fort Worth, Texas
photographed 12.26.2013
Posted on January 6, 2014, in architecture, Photography and tagged 365 photo project, architecture, black and white photography, downtown, fort worth, fort worth texas, melinda green harvey, monochrome, one day one image, philip johnson, photo a day, photography, texas, water gardens. Bookmark the permalink. 10 Comments.
One Day | One Image 
This one makes me dizzy! Is it moving or am I?
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I know! And this isn’t as bad as the active pool – that one has broad steps with gaps that have flowing water underneath. It completely unnerved me and it was all I could do to walk down.
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Wonderful angles and textures here, Melinda!
Perfect for black and white.
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Thanks, Lisa. This place was a lot of fun to photograph.
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I have lived in Arlington for 14 years and finally got over to see the water gardens on Thanksgiving. I loved the cypresses around this pool. Their “knees” are fascinating.
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This was my first visit to the Water Gardens, which is sort of ridiculous since I’ve been to downtown Fort Worth a lot.
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This looks like an exciting place for photographers (proof at the top of the page). I’d love to see this someday.
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It is an interesting place to visit; I’d like to go back someday with a tripod and an ND filter. And also, go at night. (A certain 6 year old granddaughter was with us this time, so the amount of time I could spent taking pictures was a little…constrained.)
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Great shadows. I am trying to figure out if you rotated the picture, but the cat is sleeping on my shoulder so I can’t rotate my head enough to tell…
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I didn’t rotate the image. Really. The pool is below street level and is surrounded by tall walls that lean back slightly away from vertical; that’s what you can see on the right side of the photo. Here’s a wider shot: http://bit.ly/1d7d8uo.
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