Using the concept of deck-level fountains, the solution was to suspend the pavers over a reservoir that is actually about two-and-a-half feet deep. Because the pool takes up the entire area of the fountain, it is large enough to collect the water flowing down the towers. Water gently surges up from the reservoir at 5,266 gallons per minute through the narrow spaces between the pavers, which sit on pedestals.

A series of electro-mechanical float switches control the water level. An integrated water flow system takes surge capacity into account and allows the skin of water to go right up to the bases of the towers. Each tower?EUR??,,????'?????<

Gargoyle Effect

Team-leader Frankel has said the single trickiest thing about building the fountain was the so-called gargoyle effect. While some of the questions which plagued the team initially were puzzling, there was none so mystifying as how to create a water spout from videotaped lips! There were several extremely challenging aspects to this problem.

First, since the specified building material was glass block, the team strained to figure how it would be possible to make water gush out of the glass block. After testing an idea of sneaking piping between the screen and glass, we solved the problem by offsetting a segment of the screen itself so we could snake smaller pipes through the gaps.

At night the underwater illumination can penetrate through the stainless steel grating. The up lighting at the base of the towers is achieved using a total of 120 500-watt fixtures. They are mounted on custom made stainless steel stands beneath the grating.

Secondly, when the spout flow stops, the source of the water has to disappear. How could the nozzle become invisible? The components had to have the mechanical and electrical properties suitable for a public water feature and they couldn?EUR??,,????'?????<

This required a lot of team brainstorming and collaboration combined with superior material knowledge. All nozzles and fittings needed to be translucent?EUR??,,????'?????<

An additional challenge was the high volume of the water effects. How could the team calibrate a proportionate amount of water that does not hurt children playing below? The towers are 50 feet high. In order to appropriately balance the size of a projected face ?EUR??,,????'?????<

Free-falling drops of water are heavy. Engineers calculated that in order to fit the design, the stream of water would have to be one foot in diameter. Clearly, a stream the size of a fire hose or larger could injure people.

The reflecting pool is actually two-and-a-half-feet deep and located over an underground parking garage. Black granite pavers are suspended, sitting on adjustable pedestal jacks.

Landscape architect O?EUR??,,????'?????<

The team designed a system of tightly-spaced nozzle openings in various sizes. In order to realize the artist?EUR??,,????'?????<

This strange-looking model allowed team members to observe how the falling water looked over the blocks and test desired flow rates for both the water walls and gargoyle effect. It also provided an opportunity to measure wind spray, explore various lighting techniques and ensure the design met safety standards.

Steve Crown and Juame Plensa attended at Crystal?EUR??,,????'?????<

A Successful Conclusion

In the end, it seems everyone loves the Crown Fountain. It?EUR??,,????'?????<

The LED screen alternates faces and nature scenes. The panels are DMX-based control panels made by McDowell Electric. The towers are illuminated via LED light fixtures that are capable of reproducing many millions of specific colors.

If Plensa wrote the poem, the team successfully translated it. ?EUR??,,????'?????<

Larry O?EUR??,,????'?????<