Architecture: water gardens in the rain, ft. worth

"Water does all kinds of funny things. It jumps, it's quiet, it makes mist, it makes film, it goes high, it goes low, it falls down and makes a noise" - late Phillip Johnson. I personally think the water gardens are much more beautiful in the rain with a cloudy sky above. Built by famous architect Phillip Johnson and John Burgee who called it a playground for the senses. There are about 500 species of plants and trees in the garden and the water acts as a cooling oasis for the downtown area. It was built in 1974. There are three pools, the mountains, the central square, and the theater. The pathways were designed carefully by the architects to direct visitors from one experience to the other through the use of looming walls. The looming walls open visibility while not trapping visitors inside the garden. 

The entrance is flanked with a map and guidelines. Notice the separation of the spaces through pathways and the looming walls. The three pools are - active water, aerated water, quiet water. 

The active water pool is most definitely the most celebrated.  This pool has water cascading 38 feet down from terraces and steps down to a smaller pool. The best experience is to travel down these terraces to the bottom and listen to your senses. It is quite the experience. 

Take a tour of the rest of the garden in this post. 

The cascading water creates a vibrating sound that will stop all other sounds and meditate your mind. It is like the architecture is forcing you to keep calm and listen to the sound of water.

The steps might scare some people but like I said, the experience is worth it all.

When I went at this very bottom, I felt a sense of drowning even though I was completely dry standing on top of one of the blocks. 

Intelligently placed greenery of various species and thereby color - are placed surrounding the central square. 

The mountain is a terraced knoll that shields the garden from I-30 also blocking the street sounds.

The historical Texas Pacific Railway terminal looms in the back.

The aerated pool features multiple spray gardens. Photos of the other regions of the garden will be added to this post soon. If you have not been there yet, go and experience water.