Nov 242011
Japantown
These are two of my most favorite fountains in San Francisco. They are by Ruth Asawa and they reside in the Nihomachi Pedestrian Mall in Japantown.
Nihomachi is a term used to designate an historical Japanese community. Ruth Asawa has been in the site before, and her website shows the wonderful work she does with wire and other media.
In 1974, Asawa created the Origami Fountains, two lotus, fabricated in corten steel. By 1996, the steel had seriously deteriorated and the fountains had to be removed. Due to the communities love for Ruth, it was easy to mount support to have the fountains replaced. They were recast in bronze. Ruth was on hand for the entire process and helped to oversee the process of making molds from the original fountains as well as the fabrication and installation of the new fountains.
beautiful! i love Japantown!
Happy Thanksgiving 🙂
I love our International District here in Seattle, yours is super delightful! Hoping you and yours have an equally enjoyable celebration today with your family and friends that I will with mine!
No water? Fountains here always seem to breaking down plus we shut them down for winter but I imagine you don’t have to worry about freezing temps there.
I am glad these fountains were recast. They are lovely and I like the organic feel.
Hope you had a great holiday.
I really like how elegant these fountains are.
I have not been to SF’s Japantown in ages. It is nice to know their origin if I happen to venture back there again.