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Crown Fountain
Project
of the Year: Site/Landscaping
The Crown Fountain in Chicago's Millennium Park was intended
to create an interactive space to celebrate the diversity
of Chicago's residents.
Each day from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., a fountain unlike any other
comes alive via glass, light, water and technology.
The fountain features two glass towers rising from a reflecting
pool.
Each tower is 50 ft. tall, with footprints measuring 16 by
23 ft. They soar out of a 0.25-in.-deep pool that is 42 ft.
wide and 222 ft. long and are centered on a plaza created
from the same granite as the pool and measuring 84 ft. wide
by 276 ft. long.
1,000 Chicago Faces
Upon the towers' facades are moving images of faces of typical
Chicagoans.
The images are made possible through the same light-emitting-diode
technology that lights scoreboards in outdoor stadiums.
More than 1,000 human faces appear throughout the day, and
each face appears for about 13 minutes, causing the towers
to seemingly interact with each other.
Water rises through the middle of each tower, spills over
all four sides and cascades down the glass bricks sheathing
the LED screen. Piping also carries water up the tower and
spouts it from a gargoyle-like nozzle in the middle of each
tower.
The water is pumped from an underground reservoir and sent
through a network of piping that cascades over four sides
of the tower into the pool.
During the final minutes, the faces pucker their lips and
"spit" water to the enjoyment of onlookers in the
pool.
When the subjects' faces were filmed, the video was converted
to an electronic file. The image was electronically manipulated
so the mouth would come at or near the nozzle. As a result,
when the subjects purse their lips, it appears water is coming
from their mouths.
A solution was custom-engineered to allow the piping to pass
through the LED screen without interfering with the display.
There was more than eight months of trial and error and testing.
The towers were constructed of a thin stainless steel, created
in the form of a grid. The glass bricks were inserted into
each opening in the grid. The front joints of the glass were
then sealed with silicone to waterproof the structure. Silicone
was chosen for its clarity.
The site is on what was previously an open green space on
the northeast corner of Michigan and Monroe streets. The site
is directly above a two-story underground parking garage.
The fountain's mechanical, electrical and control rooms were
built inside the garage, and construction could not interrupt
the garage's operations.
An Artist's Vision
Barcelona, Spain-based artist Jaume Plensa insisted that the
fountain represent a cross section of the Chicago population.
U.S. Equities, the developer selected for the project, studied
city demographics and assembled a cast that would closely reflect
the city's gender, ethnic and age makeup.
His idea was to update the ancient concept of the gargoyle fountain
with modern materials and technology.
All the filming was handled by School of the Art Institute faculty
advisers and students. To obtain the required 1,000 images,
many more than 1,000 faces were filmed.
The fountain's design goal was to capture and reuse as much
as 97 percent of the water. At the base of the towers and in
the reflecting pool are large reservoirs that collect and recirculate
water.
Approximately 11,000 gallons of water are recirculated per minute,
and the pool is self-leveling, with automatic adjustments taking
place about every five minutes.
The jury said, "This is really a unique project and really
creative. The filtration and all the logistics were complex.
When walking or driving past it, you see the place packed with
kids playing in the fountain. It's a cool project."
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