Urban Retreat

In the heart of downtown Fort Worth, Texas, it is refreshing to see an attempt to break the monotony of the concrete jungle with an artistic use of stone and water. The Water Gardens designed by architect Phillip Johnson is simple yet extremely elegant.  We were roaming around downtown Fort Worth and thought it might be a good idea to find this place and relax for a while. Standing on the adjacent street, we could barely imagine what was in store. As we moved towards the Gardens, we first came across the ‘quiet pool’. The water was absolutely still and the trees lining the pool gave it a very serene feel. 

Perched on top of the Mountain with my daughter

Next to that was a huge stone structure simply called Mountain. With high steps, it looked somewhat formidable but we climbed up without looking behind and without the support of any railings. It may have been a little unsafe, but seeing others sitting right on top, my daughter was a bit emboldened.  Sitting on top, we could see that the structure made interesting shadows on the adjoining walls. We then followed our ears and the sound of gushing water that lead us to the ‘aerated pool’ which was a set of several fountains.  Light breeze carried tiny water droplets from the fountains towards the onlookers and this unexpected spray was most welcome on a summer evening. Next to this was the ‘active pool’ which I found to be the most exciting of all the three pools. It consisted of a set of steps or terraces winding down into a pit with water falling between them. The steps were wet and we had to climb down very carefully to reach the bottom. 

Making way to the bottom 

Standing at the lower most level, with water cascading from all sides, one gets an interesting perspective of space – the dynamic motion of water and the static presence of the solid rock steps. After spending a long time watching this wonderful sight, we decided to climb back to the streets and move on. Before joining the maze of streets, we stopped and turned back to catch a glimpse of the hidden urban retreat. We saw nothing but just heard the sound of gushing waters.