PHILLY | The Fountains Of Philadelphia

[volguus zildrohar]

Philadelphia has been called the "Paris of America", a title bestowed with at least some merit as this city has a storied artistic history. Some of the nation's most reknowned institutions for theater, art and music call this city home. Beyond them, however, is the 'everyday' art - the sculptures, the murals - that adorn countless Philadelphia streets and squares and one aspect of that public art that stays remarkably well under the radar are the city's fountains.

Grand and inconspicuous, from University City to Passyunk Square, Philadelphia is a city that offers no shortage of water displays. Being founded on a neck of land between two great rivers and owing its success and stature to its proximity to waterways, it should come as no surprise that this city is rife with them.

I spent a week hitting up as many of them as I could name and still fell far short and made some notable omissions. There will be a Round 2 next spring, I promise. There will be new fountains next year.

For now, fountains by name, location and neighborhood.

1835 Market Street (Market West)







Courtship at Philadelphia Museum Of Art (Fairmount)



Bell Atlantic Tower Fountain (Logan Square)





Chestnut Park (Rittenhouse Square)









Curtis Center Fountain Court (Washington Square)





Dilworth Plaza Fountain (Market West)











City Hall Fountain (Market West)





Main Quad Fountain at Drexel University (University City)











Captain John Ericcson Fountain (Fairmount)



Voyage Of Ulysses at The Byrne/Green Federal Complex (Market East)





Fitler Square Fountain (Fitler Square)







Franklin Square Fountain (Callowhill)





Tuscan Girl Fountain (Logan Square)



Headhouse Square Fountain (Society Hill)







Linpro Fountain (Market West)



Ellen Phillips Samuel Memorial Fountain (Penn Center)









Magnolia Garden Fountain (Society Hill)





Italian Fountain (Passyunk Square)







Penn's Landing Fountains (Old City)











Vernon & Shirley Hill Pavilion Fountain (University City)



The Philadelphian Fountain (Fairmount)



Rodin Museum Reflecting Pool (Logan Square)



Rittenhouse Square Fountain (Rittenhouse Square)



Duck Girl (Rittenhouse Square)







Swann Memorial Fountain (Logan Square)







Boxwood Garden Fountain (Society Hill)







Washington Square Fountain (Washington Square)









Water Works Fountain (Fairmount)



Mellon Bank Center Winter Garden Fountains (Penn Center)





That's it. Stay wet.

[Jularc]

Interesting thread! Philly and its glorious fountains!

[Pinoy2.0]

Looks like it's from a movie.



nice, good, interesting take on philly. now i know a little more, thanks

[ColDayMan]

Nice!

[brickell]

Well done.
The fountains along the Parkway took up a significant amount of my day when I was there. I like that they are human scaled and inviting to the public instead of roped off and disengaged from the pedestrian.

[plinko]

water water everywhere...

[denveraztec]

Sweet photo thread!

[williamphilapa]

cool thread and awesome photo's!

[Swinefeld]

mmm...Tuscan Grille.

Wet and wild, Steve-o. There are two big fountains along Kelly Drive that would be wonderful if it weren't for the fact that they haven't worked in years (decades?)

Philly is all wet.

[Austinlee]

Lots of variety! Cool.

[ATLian12]

Philly Phountains loving it!

[Magnus1]

awesome. KC also has nice fountains.

[JackStraw]

cool theme, cool thread, cool city

[volguus zildrohar]

Thanks for the words, birds.

Which fountains are you referring to, Swines? There are several I didn't hit and I know most of them have to be in Fairmount Park.

brickell, that's one things that's great about them. With rare exceptions, anyone can walk up and literally touch the water (not that you'd necessarily want to). The city has taken to posting a park ranger near the Swann Fountain during the summer to keep people from climbing on the statues in its center (even though it's been a local pasttime for years).

Rest assured, I'll be doing a Part 2 next spring after Comcast Center's water feature is complete.

[Swinefeld]

Originally Posted by volguus zildrohar

Which fountains are you referring to, Swines? There are several I didn't hit and I know most of them have to be in Fairmount Park.

They are one either side of the Ellen Phillips Samuel Memorial Sculpture Garden on Kelly Drive. It would be nice if the Fountain of the Sea Horses was working too.

[SJPhillyBoy]

You should expand it slightly and make a photo essay book out of this thread...very nice!

[EastSideHBG]

Very nice thread, Steve! I definitely agree with SJPhillyBoy, and you already have the makings for a very cool project...if you are interested in doing such a thing, that is.

[KevinFromTexas]

Very nice. Fountains are one thing that I wish my city had more of. We have some, but few of them are grand. It's one of the things I wish we had more of, especially in downtown.

[flar]

Nice fountains. Funny how running water can be such a great addition to public spaces. Maybe a small reminder of nature amidst all the concrete and steel.

[volguus zildrohar]

flar, that's exactly why they can be so pleasant.

EastSide/SJ, there actually already is a book on the fountains of the city, which I learned about during my research. It is a bit dated (it features more than one decomissioned/demolished fountain) but it is a good find.

Swines, I forgot about the Samuels Fountain. The Sea Horse fountain probably won't be active again until the work behind the Art Museum is complete.