Yerba Buena Center Gardens
The United States’ second largest Martin Luther King Memorial, titled Revelation, was built in San Francisco in 1993. It sits behind a 50’ x 20’ foot wall of cascading water. Located in the Yerba Buena Gardens, the memorial is a lovely walkway constructed under a 120,000-gallon reflecting pool. The reflective pool spills over large pieces of Sierra granite, giving the visitor a roaring background noise that blocks out the city sounds and allows a moment for peace and contemplation.
A photo of Dr. King anchors the west entrance to the fountain. This is mirrored to the east with an inscription of a 1956 speech he made in San Francisco.
As the visitor makes their way along the path, one reads quotations from Dr. King’s speeches etched in 12 glass panels. Each quote is translated into the languages of San Francisco’s 13 sister cities, as well as Arabic and some African dialects.
The project was a collaboration of sculptor Houston Conwill, poet Estella Conwill Majoza and architect Joseph DePace.
Reflecting Pool on the upper level of Yerba Buena Gardens
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Comments
5 responses to “Martin Luther King Memorial”
I love it especially the cascading water!
Nice tribute on MLK Day … I especially like the shot taken from behind the waterfall.
A perfect day for this post and such a beautiful day in San Francisco. Great, if I get a chance to do another SF meetup walk, I’ll let you know!
Beautiful photos — I especially like the last shot through the water. A lovely tribute to MLK.
Beautiful memorial and these photos are great. Lovely tribute.