Hosed-down at Crown Fountain, Chicago

If you’ve visited Chicago since 2014, you likely have visited Millennium Park, where among its famous landmarks you saw Crown Fountain.
A 17-million-dollar work of interactive public art, the fountain is a video sculpture composed of a black granite reflecting pool between a pair of glass brick towers. The towers are 50 feet tall, and use light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to display digital videos on their inward faces. Water intermittently cascades down the two towers and spouts through a nozzle on each tower's front face.

This unique work was designed by Spanish artist Jaume Plensa, and the project was executed by Krueck and Sexton Architects. Inspired by the traditional use of gargoyles in fountains, where water flows out of faces of mythological beings, Plensa’s creation uses LED screens with projected images of faces of Chicago citizens, and water flows through an outlet in the screen to give the illusion of water spouting from their mouths. The collection of faces was selected from a cross-section of 1,000 Chicago residents and represents a tribute to their diversity.

Residents and critics alike have praised the fountain for its artistic and entertainment features. It’s a popular subject for photographers and a common gathering place. The fountain has become a public play area that offers an escape from summer heat, and children can often be seen frolicking in the fountain's water.