Harvard University's Tanner Fountain Wins 2008 Landmark Award

‘Transformational’ Fountain Sparked New Era of Water Feature Design

WASHINGTON, April 29 The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) and the National Trust for Historic Preservation have announced that the Tanner Fountain at Harvard University will receive the 2008 Landmark Award during the ASLA Annual Meeting on October 6 in Philadelphia.

Photo: Alan Ward

Designed by Peter Walker, FASLA, with The SWA Group, the creation of a fountain without a basin was an innovation that transformed fountain design. Historically, the Tanner Fountain was the first institutional project of the “Landscape as Art” movement, and it continues to prove that landscape architecture is an art, and the landscape architect an artist.

Photo: Alan Ward

The Landmark Award recognizes a distinguished landscape architecture project completed between 15 and 50 years ago that retains its original design integrity and contributes significantly to the public realm of the community in which it is located. Previous recipients include the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, Golden Gate National Recreation Area near San Francisco, and the Charleston Waterfront Park.

Photo: Alan Ward

The awards jury called the park “one of the first examples of a landscape architect creating public sculpture….retaining the full power of the original idea. Transformational. It lives in your memory.”

More about this project on the ASLA website.

Photo: Alan Ward

Photo: Alan Ward