Horse Show Fountain
Encyclopedia
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
suburb of Oak Park, Illinois
Oak Park, Illinois
Oak Park, Illinois is a suburb bordering the west side of the city of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is the twenty-fifth largest municipality in Illinois. Oak Park has easy access to downtown Chicago due to public transportation such as the Chicago 'L' Blue and Green lines,...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The fountain
Fountain
A fountain is a piece of architecture which pours water into a basin or jets it into the air either to supply drinking water or for decorative or dramatic effect....
, first erected in 1909, has been widely attributed to both sculptor Richard Bock
Richard Bock
Richard W. Bock was an American sculptor and associate of Frank Lloyd Wright.He was particularly known for his sculptural decorations for architecture and military memorials, along with the work he conducted alongside Wright....
and architect Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
. Though the fountain currently stands at the corner of Oak Park Avenue and Lake Street within Scoville Park
Scoville Park
Scoville Park is a public park in Oak Park, Illinois. Contrary to the name, it is not located on Scoville Avenue, but rather the corner of Oak Park Avenue and Lake Street, next to the Oak Park Public Library. The park is home to a small Playground, a large field that is home to concerts during...
, neither the fountain nor the location is original. Its original location was 100 ft (30 m) from its present location, and the fountain was completely reconstructed in 1969 to replace the badly deteriorated original. The 4.6 acres (18,615.6 m²) Scoville Park is listed as a historic district
Historic district
A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries, historic districts receive legal protection from development....
in the U.S. National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
, but the fountain – because it is a replica – is considered a non-contributing property to the listing.
History
The Wright-Bock Fountain was originally built by the Oak Park Horse Show Association in 1909 and located on the curb of Lake Street, 100 feet (30.48 m) from its present location. The fountain was built to serve not only people but horses and dogs as well. The fountain's design is generally believed to be a product of sculptor Richard BockRichard Bock
Richard W. Bock was an American sculptor and associate of Frank Lloyd Wright.He was particularly known for his sculptural decorations for architecture and military memorials, along with the work he conducted alongside Wright....
but the actual attribution is a bit fuzzy. Donald P. Hallmark, a Bock historian, stated the fountain was designed by Bock between 1907 and 1908 but with the help of famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
. Bock did much of Wright's architectural sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
and worked, for a time, in Wright's studio
Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio
The Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio at 951 Chicago Avenue in Oak Park, Illinois, has been restored by the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust to its appearance in 1909, the last year Frank Lloyd Wright lived there with his family. Frank Lloyd Wright purchased the property and built the home in...
in Oak Park as well. It was Bock himself who suggested that it was Wright who pushed for the central opening in the fountain, and thus he "began to lay claim to the whole project." The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation claims the work as a Wright design from 1903. The Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust lists Wright as the architect and Bock as the sculptor.
In 1969 the badly deteriorated original fountain was reconstructed and the replica placed in Scoville Park
Scoville Park
Scoville Park is a public park in Oak Park, Illinois. Contrary to the name, it is not located on Scoville Avenue, but rather the corner of Oak Park Avenue and Lake Street, next to the Oak Park Public Library. The park is home to a small Playground, a large field that is home to concerts during...
at the corner of Oak Park Drive and Lake Street in Oak Park. Its new location was an area paved with brick and flanked by concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
bench
Bench (furniture)
A bench is a piece of furniture, on which several people may sit at the same time. Benches are typically made of wood, but may also be made of metal, stone, or synthetic materials. Many benches have arm and back rests; some have no back rest and can be sat on from either side. In public areas,...
es. During the reconstruction the original materials that comprised the fountain were replaced in their entirety. The poured concrete elements of the fountain were replaced with a concrete that had a rough aggregate finish. The reconstruction work was overseen by the Oak Park Beautification Commission. John Michiels, an architect with Perkins and Will
Perkins and Will
Perkins+Will was founded in Chicago in 1935 by and ., on the belief that design has the power to transform lives and enhance society...
, designed the reconstruction while local sculptor Gerald Jaquard replicated Bock's relief
Relief
Relief is a sculptural technique. The term relief is from the Latin verb levo, to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is thus to give the impression that the sculpted material has been raised above the background plane...
work. Alterations on the original design included lining the planters with zinc
Zinc
Zinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...
and the installation of the recessed light
Recessed light
A recessed light or downlight is a light fixture that is installed into a hollow opening in a ceiling...
s. During the reconstruction, the original inscription (from the original fountain on the facade that now bears the reconstruction-dedication panel) was lost to history.
Design
Horizontal plane
In geometry, physics, astronomy, geography, and related sciences, a plane is said to be horizontal at a given point if it is perpendicular to the gradient of the gravity field at that point— in other words, if apparent gravity makes a plumb bob hang perpendicular to the plane at that point.In...
emphasis. Two vertical
Vertical direction
In astronomy, geography, geometry and related sciences and contexts, a direction passing by a given point is said to be vertical if it is locally aligned with the gradient of the gravity field, i.e., with the direction of the gravitational force at that point...
slabs act as posts that support a rectangular lintel above, which extends beyond the edges of the posts. The lintel itself acts as a planter. At the base of the fountain a concrete wall extends between the vertical posts. Above the wall is another horizontal slab which acts as the fountain and features the same design as the upper horizontal slab. To either side of the fountain, at its base, are two concrete pools which have since been converted into flower beds.
The center opening, above the fountain, is adorned with cast concrete panels which contain Bock sculpture and dedications. Ornamentation of the concrete slabs is rather limited and exists only in incised triangle
Triangle
A triangle is one of the basic shapes of geometry: a polygon with three corners or vertices and three sides or edges which are line segments. A triangle with vertices A, B, and C is denoted ....
s and slanted rectangle
Rectangle
In Euclidean plane geometry, a rectangle is any quadrilateral with four right angles. The term "oblong" is occasionally used to refer to a non-square rectangle...
s at the rear and front of the lintel, and incised pyramid
Pyramid
A pyramid is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge at a single point. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilateral, or any polygon shape, meaning that a pyramid has at least three triangular surfaces...
s at the front and rear of the fountain tray. Above the fountain, are inscriptions and detailed ornamentation
Ornament (architecture)
In architecture and decorative art, ornament is a decoration used to embellish parts of a building or object. Large figurative elements such as monumental sculpture and their equivalents in decorative art are excluded from the term; most ornament does not include human figures, and if present they...
. The inscriptions are located on concrete panels above the fountain tray, one reads "Erected in 1909 Oak Park Horse Show Association" and the other reads "Wright-Bock Plaza Fountain restored 1969." The Horse Show Association inscription is on a sculpted plaque held by two kneeling female forms, below the plaque is a tree trunk and above it the tree's leaves. Beneath the dedication panels are recessed lights which illuminate the fountain tray and cast tablets on the inner portion of the vertical posts.