Previously a 120???120-ft. asphalt parking lot, the project site is a nicely-proportioned small urban niche located on the edge of an office, restaurant and retail district. As a sunny, south-facing opening in the architectural street wall, it enjoys great visibility from vehicles traveling on busy Muhammad Ali Boulevard. On the north and west sides it is framed by attractively-aged terra cotta brick walls that provide afternoon shade. The south and east edges are adjacent to pedestrian walks with heavy foot traffic and opportunities for people-watching. The garden also has great views to the surrounding city and skyline and its visitors benefit from many nearby restaurants and food vendors.

Project goals included creating a safe and comfortable setting which is enjoyed by people from all walks of life; a place with wonderful horticultural and 24-hour, multi-season interest, while simultaneously accommodating individual reflection and small performances and events with up to 200 attendees. It also had to be authentically ?EUR??,,????'?????<

The garden?EUR??,,????'?????<

Inclusive Vision

We sought to create a space that would capture the ideals of the center: diversity, tolerance, multiculturalism and inclusiveness. CIR?EUR??,,????'?????<

 

Though compact, the park is a unique slice of green space in urban Louisville, Ky. The site was formerly a parking lot. It opened in Nov., 2005. The street running left to right is West Muhammad Ali Boulevard.

However, in reverence for the legacy and traditions of religion, we thought that the garden could embrace one of the most beautiful and rich constructs of many of the world?EUR??,,????'?????<

During the design process it also became clear that the circle was the most suitable form for the garden to embrace. The garden is small, and the many other forms that were tested were too complicated, static or forced, and less flexible than the circle. The garden is welcoming and familiar in large part because of its organization. The raised disk of the ?EUR??,,????'?????<

Water is a central theme in all major world religions. A forced perspective at the primary entrance concentrates arrival while the Heritage River birches frame the view to the Origin Fountain and the water wall plaza. (Note how the brick pavers here harmonize with the brick structure above the wall fountain.)

Organizing the Elements

The Origin Fountain at the center of the garden is located off the diagonal axis of the main fountain. The east side of the garden faces a large service ramp which required the additional screening provided by a deeper plant bed. The off-axis condition means that the entry progression is less predictable. The main fountain?EUR??,,????'?????<

The CIR has a choral group who use the basin and pool as a stage by draining the fountain and installing a temporary wood platform. In 2006, the first baptism took place in the pool. The use of stone throughout the garden imparts a sense of timeless permanence and is durable.

The water wall draws people into the main plaza and creates a cooling microclimate during Louisville?EUR??,,????'?????<

Because the site is in an emerging downtown area, safety is a large concern. Rather than fencing and closing the site at night, which we thought would conflict with the CIR?EUR??,,????'?????<

Many food vendors located in adjacent buildings service the people who fill the garden?EUR??,,????'?????<

The radial walk leads through a grove of river birch and provides places for quiet conversation or individual repose. The youthful birch canopy already provides much needed shade for the seat walls and benches.

The landscape architects were the project designers and prime consultants leading a team of six sub-consultants from design through construction, including architectural, civil, mechanical, structural (pile and footing design), fountain engineers (pumps and equipment), and an irrigation designer. The garden had many benefactors, including the landscape architects, the general contractor, a major local corporation, and many individuals and businesses in Louisville who donated time and money to support the garden.

Paths, planting and grading were all carefully designed to assure unobstructed visibility through the site, especially at night. This homeless woman in this view said she spends ?EUR??,,????'?????<

The George Garvin Brown Garden is a place of peace and contemplation, with many references to the shared miracle of life but none to any one particular religious belief. (The Kambala wood and steel benches are by MWH Object + Design.)

Challenges and Results

The project is significant in that it is unusually inclusive, being well used every day by all walks of life including children, urban professionals, the elderly and the homeless, often all at the same time. Project challenges included a large, non-design-professional client group with an annual rotating director (resulting in recurring cycles of fundraising, budgeting and value engineering). There were poor urban soils requiring extensive pilings, and a project schedule that required contract documents to begin in Jan. 2005 and construction to be completed by Nov. 14, 2005, in time for the annual Festival of the Faiths.

Teachers from the Center for Interfaith Relations?EUR??,,????'?????<

As stated at the garden?EUR??,,????'?????<

The George Garvin Brown Garden is a place of beauty, peace, repose and contemplation, as well as a gift from the Center for Interfaith Relations to the people of Louisville.

The garden is transformed at night, when the water wall glows, accentuating the primordial power of water on stone. Water splashes and bounces as it falls over the split-faced stone. A battery of submerged lights illuminates the waterwall (also seen in the views above). Additional up lights in the planting bed illuminate the dry wall at right in the below photo.