Liquid Textures: John Luebtow’s Platinum Standard Project

Watershaping advanced by leaps and bounds from 1999 through 2004 – a journey of artistry and practicality that was an inspiration to witness. In this retrospective feature, WaterShapes Editor Eric Herman reviews 25 key projects published during that time frame, offering an ongoing resource to watershapers while defining a Platinum Standard for the designers, engineers, builders and artists who use water as their chosen medium.

John Luebtow
Chatsworth, Calif.

Sculptor John Luebtow is well known for working in slumped, etched-glass panels and shimmering steel. This piece, commissioned as part of a backyard revision that also featured an artful pool and spa, includes three glass panels that echo and reflect forms used in the watershapes. The curved glass distorts and interprets the surrounding views and greenery as visitors move through the space, and the entire sculpture is reflected from below by its own perimeter-overflow, black-granite pool