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A large moat surrounding part of Hyde Park, the fountain is built with anti slip stone so that children can play in the water. Chief architect Kathryn Gustafson explained that the fountain represented Diana's life. "There are all sorts of fun things in the fountain that are turbulent and cascading down, and champagne bubbles, and total calm, and playful. There are many things about her personality that it hopes to acknowledge and memorialise."
Unusual, to say the least, this is a memorial without a statue and a fountain which doesn't even feature spurts of water, but is nonetheless is an impressive contemporary feature, covering a large area of the park and made with white Cornish granite. The architects behind the fountain decided that rather than create something to be stared at they wanted the memorial to be enjoyed by adults and children alike.
The £6.5 million structure has already become a bone of contention with many saying that it isn't a fitting memorial for the late Princess and others saying the money would have been put to better use in building a hospital or another institution in keeping with the causes supported by Diana. The fact that the memorial flooded in a rain storm the day after it was unveiled has not gone any way to silencing critics either.
Family and friends have expressed the opinion that the memorial would have been appreciated by the Princess with the Queen telling onlookers. "I think Diana would have enjoyed it and I believe that she would want all of us to do so too."
The fountain was designed as a memorial to Diana Princess of Wales and opened in 2004. It is a loop of finely sculptured granite. Water enters at the highest point and flows in two directions, meeting at the lowest point. It is then recycled. The arrangement is capable of many symbolic interpretations: the circle of life; two people joining, parting and coming together again as they leave the world; the meaninglessness of endeavour; a moebius strip; life and death.
Kathryn Gustafson designed the fountain and conceived it as a place of tranquility. This was rendered difficult by the large numbers of people wishing to visit a memorial to the beloved princess. In the opening year (2004) the grass beside the water channel was worn out and there was al problem with children slipping on the wet granite. These problems were solved by cutting ribs in the granite, installing more hard surfacing and putting security guards on duty to keep people from walking in the channel.. From the lakeside walk, the memorial fountain looks like a low concrete retaining wall protruding above the grass. When standing beside the water channel it can be seen for what it is: an extremely high quality piece of water sculpture. See comment on Kathryn Gustafson's landscape architecture. |
