Fort Worth Water Gardens

Today was our last full day in Fort Worth, and thankfully, the weather cooperated.  So I took a stroll across the street to the Fort Worth Water Gardens.  Celebrating its 45th birthday this year, the Fort Worth Water Gardens are a downtown treasure.

The gardens are a series of micro-environments: three pools, the Mountain, Central Square, and the theater.  Seemingly, the biggest draw is the Active Water Pool which features roaring water rushing down several different levels to a pool at the bottom.  The Active Water Pool also features oversized stepping stones that allow people to get down to the bottom so as to experience the all-encompassing rush of water at the focus.  Something that strikes me about the whole place, but especially the Active Water Pool, is that there isn't a curved line anywhere.  It's the water that softens all of the rough edges and blends everything together.  I wasn't able to do it with the camera I had, but a longer exposure photograph which has the result of blurring motion would truly capture the effect of the space.

While the Active Water Pool gets most of the attention from visitors, I think the Aerated and Quiet Water Pools are just as exciting, if not more so.  The Aerated Water Pool not only produces a wonderful noise, it turns its water into a fine mist which creates a noticeable cooling phenomenon.  While today was a balmy 63 degrees, I can just imagine what this one would be like during the hot Fort Worth summer.

But it was the Quiet Water Pool that really got my creativity flowing.  The smooth, slow flowing water of the Quiet pool creates a reflective sheet that mirrors the cypress trees that ring it.  The water pools over the top of large walls and cascades down in a gentle graceful way that inspires introspection rather than awe.  Like the Active Water Pool, this is one that visitors can enter and immerse themselves in the environment.

Overall, it's a really cool space and a gem for downtown Fort Worth.  While it's not in full show at this point of the winter, good design like this can be enjoyed in different ways in different times of the year.  Here are a few more snaps I took.  And whatever you do, don't kick the flowers.