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= = = Video production = = =
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Approximately 75 ethnic , social , and religious Chicago organizations were asked to provide candidates whose faces would be photographed for integration into the fountain . The subjects were chosen from local schools , churches and community groups , and filming began in 2001 at the downtown campus of the School of t... |
Each face appears on the sculpture for a total of 5 minutes using various parts of individual 80 @-@ second videos . A 40 @-@ second section is played at one @-@ third speed forward and backward , running for a total of 4 minutes . Then , there is a subsequent segment , where the mouth is puckering , that is stretched... |
To achieve the effect in which water appears to be flowing from subjects ' mouths , each video has a segment where the subject 's lips are puckered , which is then timed to correspond to the spouting water , reminiscent of gargoyle fountains . Each face is cropped so that no hair and usually no ears are visible . Sinc... |
= = Construction and engineering = =
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The Crown family , for whom the fountain is named , donated $ 10 million of the $ 17 million construction and design cost . The Goodman family , known for funding the Goodman Theatre , was also a large contributor ; the entire $ 17 million cost was provided by private donations . The initial proposed cost for the foun... |
After two architectural firms refused the contract to make Plensa 's design a reality , the firm Krueck and Sexton Architects accepted . Public art was a departure from Krueck & Sexton 's residential and corporate office @-@ dominated portfolio , which includes buildings like the Spertus Institute . Collaboration betw... |
After several dozen glass manufacturing firms were interviewed , L. E. Smith Glass Company emerged as the company to produce 22 @,@ 500 glass blocks near the upper limit of the size of press glass formed from hand @-@ poured molten glass and cast iron molds . The process used sand and soda ash heated to a temperature ... |
The glass was custom @-@ made at a factory in Mount Pleasant , Pennsylvania , and shipped to the structural glass panel manufacturer in Melbourne , Florida . The panels were then shipped by truck to Chicago . The glass is white glass , rather than the usual green glass that results from iron impurities . This has the ... |
The structure for the blocks was a challenge . At first , the design team had considered switching to plastic blocks , until the team found Circle Redmont Inc . , a prefabricated glass panel company in Melbourne , Florida which specializes in structural glass panel systems . Circle Redmont came up with the plan of tur... |
The fountain uses 11 @,@ 000 imperial gallons ( 50 @,@ 000 L ) per hour , 97 % of which is recycled back into the system . Getting the water to the spout took ingenuity . Although consideration was given to omitting a LED tile , it was determined that the images would then look as though they were each missing a tooth... |
The fountains use over one million LEDs . The inner surface of each tower uses 147 smaller screens with a total of 264 @,@ 480 LED points ( each with two red , one blue and two green LEDs ) . The physical demands of LED screens , in particular the red , green , and blue long @-@ life light bulbs and the requisite circ... |
LEDs were chosen because they were viewed as the lowest maintenance option of the possible color changing fixtures . LEDs fit into an electrical circuit , causing illumination by the movement of electrons in the semiconductor material and making a filament unnecessary , so the bulbs never burn out and do not get too h... |
The 9 @,@ 423 @-@ square @-@ foot ( 875 @.@ 4 m2 ) pool used 3 by 3 feet ( 0 @.@ 91 by 0 @.@ 91 m ) pavers that weigh 250 pounds ( 110 kg ) . The pavers were rested on screw jack pedestals in order to be leveled and shimmed . The pavers had to be perfectly leveled for the water to work correctly because the fountain i... |
During construction the underground parking garage remained open . An additional challenge was designing the structure to facilitate interior access for ongoing maintenance and repairs , while accommodating two levels of underground parking underneath . The challenge was solved by combining a T @-@ bar grid to absorb ... |
= = Dedication and operation = =
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= = = Unveiling = = =
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Construction of the video sculpture was completed for testing without the fountain 's water features on May 18 , 2004 . Originally , Plensa had planned to have each face appear for 13 minutes , and this continued to be the targeted duration when the testing of the sculpture occurred . Eventually , professors at the Sc... |
Plensa 's design of Crown Fountain was unveiled to the public on July 16 – 18 , during the 2004 grand opening celebrations for Millennium Park , which was sponsored by J.P. Morgan Chase & Co . At the time of the unveiling , Crown Fountain , like the nearby Cloud Gate , was incomplete because only 300 of the videos had... |
= = = Operation = = =
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The control center for the synchronization of images , water flow , and lighting color and intensity is beneath one of the towers , in a room that covers 550 square feet ( 51 m2 ) . The room houses high @-@ definition video servers and equipment temperature sensors . Hard drives contain all the individual electronic c... |
= = = = Video sculpture = = = =
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The front face of each tower is animated with a continuous , dynamic exhibit of lights and electronic images . Although the screens on the towers periodically display clips of landscapes such as waterfalls , most intriguing are the display of faces of Chicago residents . About 1 @,@ 000 faces of Chicagoans are shown i... |
The spouting water from the faces of the towers appears to be flowing from the displayed subject 's mouth from a 6 @-@ inch ( 150 mm ) nozzle located in the center of each interior face 12 feet ( 3 @.@ 7 m ) above the reflecting pool . Images are shown daily year @-@ round , while the water feature only operates from ... |
Each tower is illuminated from within on three sides by approximately 70 color @-@ changing Color Kinetics LED lighting fixtures per tower , while the fourth side features opposing Barco LED display screens . At night , some of the videos are replaced by images of nature or solid colors . Also at night , the other thr... |
= = = = Fountain = = = =
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Crown Fountain has both slits and a grate for drainage ( pictured above right ) to drain the 11 @,@ 520 US gal ( 43 @,@ 608 l ; 9 @,@ 592 imp gal ) of water per minute . When the videos are not on the front of the tower , water cascades down each of the facades . The water is filtered , pumped and recirculated through... |
= = Controversies = =
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Before the fountain was completed in 2004 , Art Institute of Chicago president James Wood felt the columns would be too tall and other community leaders felt that the height and scale of the project stemmed from a " pissing contest " with other park feature artists . Grant Park has been protected since 1836 by " forev... |
In November 2006 , Crown Fountain became the focus of a public controversy when the city added surveillance cameras atop each tower . Purchased through a $ 52 million Department of Homeland Security grant to the Chicago area , the cameras were part of a surveillance system augmenting eight other cameras covering all o... |
= = Updating = =
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In 2014 , the hardware and software behind the fountain 's operation were replaced . At the time there were plans to replace LED lighting with incandescent bulbs on each of the non @-@ video display surfaces and to replace the video surface LEDs . Plensa , who maintained control of the video faces for the first two ye... |
= = Critical reception = =
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Crown Fountain , Trevi Fountain , and Buckingham Fountain , as well as natural water features such as Old Faithful , are examples of the ability of water to attract people and hold their attention . Crown Fountain has more interactivity than other Chicago fountains , such as Buckingham Fountain and Lorado Taft 's Foun... |
U.S. News & World Report describes the fountain as an exemplary feature of the city 's numerous urban parks . Chicago Tribune architecture critic Blair Kamin , who is pleased with the sculptures ' verticalness , says the fountain helps appropriately depict the modern 21st @-@ century urban park . The Chicago Sun @-@ T... |
The fountain is featured on the cover of Philip Jodidio 's 2005 book , Architecture : Art . Although Plensa is considered to be a conceptual artist , according to Jodidio , Plensa created a work whose architectural aspects are paramount . Its location juxtaposed with the Historic Michigan Boulevard District 's skywall... |
= Canning Dam =
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The Canning Dam and reservoir provide a major fresh water resource for the city of Perth , Western Australia . The dam is situated on the Darling Scarp and is an impoundment of the Canning River . It is noted for its innovative structural and hydraulic design that was considered to be at the forefront of concrete grav... |
Since its completion in 1940 , the Canning Dam has contributed to a wide range of environmental and ecological problems in surrounding regions , problems include more common algal blooms , habitat loss and sedimentation . Despite these issues , Canning Dam and the adjacent parks and forests provide a variety of recrea... |
= = History = =
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Development of the Canning River as a source of water for Perth was first proposed in a report of the first Metropolitan Water Works Board of Perth in 1896 . Investigation of the site began in 1897 when engineer Thomas Hodgson surveyed and proposed the dam 's current location as a possible site . However , despite the... |
In 1924 a small pipehead dam was built 6 kilometres ( 4 mi ) downstream from the present Canning Dam . It was only intended as a quick fix to the water supply problem and it soon became apparent that a major reservoir was needed , although it would be nine years before work on the current Canning Dam would begin . The... |
A further improvement was made in 1951 when a concrete @-@ lined channel was constructed to divert stream flow from the nearby Kangaroo Gully catchment . The Canning Dam and reservoir was Perth 's primary source of water until the boom growth of the city in the 1960s and the completion of Serpentine Dam in 1961 . In 1... |
The Canning Dam and reservoir still supplies approximately 20 percent of Perth 's drinking water requirements and plays an important role in the context of the development of Perth .
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The Canning reservoir is also used to store water from the newly completed Kwinana Desalination Plant . Treated water can be pumped from the plant to the reservoir through the new Forrestdale Pumping Station .
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= = Hydrology = =
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The Canning Dam Catchment lies within the Darling Scarp which forms part of an Archaean Shield composed largely of granite with some invaded linear belts of metamorphosed sedimentary and volcanic rocks .
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The dam wall is situated in a narrow gorge running east and west , with rock sides sloping upward from the river bed . Behind the dam wall , the south branch of the Canning River joins the main stream , with the impounded water forming a lake which stretches back in three major arms to the east south @-@ east and sout... |
The catchment has an area of 804 square kilometres ( 310 sq mi ) . The reservoir is at 200 metres ( 660 ft ) AHD and the highest point of the catchment , Mount Cooke is at 582 metres ( 1 @,@ 909 ft ) AHD .
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Climatically , the area receives about 900 millimetres ( 35 in ) of rainfall per annum with most of this falling between May and September . There is widespread variability of rainfall across the catchment however , from between 700 and 1 @,@ 300 millimetres ( 28 and 51 in ) .
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Since 1975 long @-@ term average rainfalls at the dam wall have decreased by 20 percent and streamflow into the catchment by approximately 60 percent — the average annual inflow between 1948 and 1974 was 52 gigalitres ( 1 @.@ 8 × 109 cu ft ) which had reduced to 22 gigalitres ( 780 @,@ 000 @,@ 000 cu ft ) between 1975... |
= = Construction = =
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The construction of Canning Dam ended a long period during which Perth 's water supply was generally unsatisfactory in quality ( either due to salinity or bacterial pollution or both ) and in quantity . The project , the biggest public works program of the decade , stimulated significant growth in the local economy an... |
Several innovative design concepts and construction methods which were new to Australia were introduced on the project , while others which were used on the nearby Wellington Dam , were improved upon at the Canning dam site .
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At the Canning Dam and indeed all dams , care had to be taken to prevent water seepage between the foundation rock and the structure of the dam . At the Canning in addition to cutting back the foundation to solid unfractured rock , a cut @-@ off trench was sited near the upstream face of the dam , down stream which a ... |
While state of the art materials @-@ handling methods were used , in some instances labour @-@ saving machinery worked beside operations intended to maximise the labour content . Sustenance workers were employed chiefly for on @-@ site preparation , road construction , foundation excavation , clearing timber from the ... |
Generally construction work proceeded smoothly and from an engineering point of view there were few setbacks . However , one did occur in the early stages of construction . In March 1934 there was a violent storm bringing 130 mm ( 5 @.@ 12 in ) of rain in less than two days . As a result , the river rose rapidly which... |
The dam was completed in September 1940 . When built it was the longest concrete gravity dam in Australia , and also the second highest after the Burrinjuck Dam in New South Wales . As of 1997 of the 90 large concrete and masonry gravity dams in Australia the Canning Dam is still the fifth highest and the sixth longes... |
The final cost of the dam was significantly less than had been originally budgeted for , and the work was completed on schedule to a date that was calculated seven years previously .
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= = = Remedial works = = =
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Recently the Canning Dam has been subjected to considerable cracking of the upper parts of the dam and upper gallery . Investigations have shown that cracking was due to strong AAR ( alkali aggregate reactivity ) in the concrete . AAR results in swelling of the concrete , which may cause secondary compressive stresses... |
Extensive remedial works were undertaken between 1999 & 2001 to strengthen the dam wall . This work involved removing the top 3 @.@ 8 m ( 12 ft ) of the existing dam wall and drilling / blasting through the dam wall plus up to a further 70 m ( 230 ft ) into the bedrock below . The top section of the wall was then rebu... |
An innovative drilling and blasting technique called Penetrating Cone Fracture ( PCF ) was used in the remedial works process . PCF was chosen over conventional drilling and / or blasting techniques due to the reduced risk of damage to the existing structure from vibration , as well as lower noxious fume and dust leve... |
= = Environmental issues = =
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Since the construction of the Canning Dam , among other drinking water supply dams , water flow into the Canning River has been reduced by up to 96 % . A number of freshwater fish species which are endemic to the south @-@ west of Western Australia are found in the Canning River system , however studies of fish and fi... |
Damming of the Canning caused dramatic flow reductions that significantly altered downstream aquatic macroinvertebrate communities . The lack of water flow has also resulted in a poor flushing effect below the dam wall . An excessive amount of nutrients from fertilizers and animal waste has caused algal blooms and eut... |
Many river pools which are an important summer refuge and habitat for aquatic and terrestrial flora and fauna have been lost due to sedimentation and modification of the flow regime caused by impoundments in the Canning River .
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Periodic flooding of the Canning River from the dam is required to disperse seed , stimulate germination and ensure seedlings survive , recharge shallow groundwater tables that are important during periods of drought and to discourage and prevent weed growth . However , during times of low rainfall periodic flooding i... |
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