"useless and absolutely splendid"
DallasNews.com | News for Dallas, Texas | EntertainmentDanger is as basic to Philip Johnson's Fort Worth Water Gardens as trees and fountains. 'He felt the thrill of 'pseudo danger' increased the visitor's appreciation of the park,' his biographer Franz Schulze said in 1993, nearly 20 years after it opened.
Visitors don't stroll through wrought-iron gates to plop down on a manicured green lawn; instead they pick their way down angled concrete slopes to peer down into a maelstrom, with no fences or railings to hold them back. This isn't the concocted danger of the amusement park ride. It is more like peering over the edge of Niagara Falls or sitting at the tip of the 'diving board' at Half Dome in Yosemite. You can fall, but you probably won't. In this tension between possibility and probability resides the thrill.
Water Safety tips Mr. Johnson's 'pseudo danger' turned tragically real Wednesday, when four people were sucked under the churning waters of the so-called 'active pool' and drowned.
Another article, with photos.
When the $6 million Water Gardens were donated to the city, the gift was described in 1975 by a New York Times art critic as both "useless and absolutely splendid."
* Ray, 6/21/2004 09:23:48 AM
