Fair Memories: Kerry Friedman’s and Mike Perkowski’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.

Kerry Friedman & Mike Perkowski
HydroDramtics
St. Louis, Mo.

Site of the 1904 World’s Fair, Forest Park in St. Louis boasts a number of historic features, among them the newly restored Grand Basin. Essentially a lake ringed with fountains, the facility is a favorite of visitors who take to the water in small boats. The restoration work performed by fountain specialists at HydroDramatics was sensitive to the original aesthetics of the facility, but the technology they applied – mechanical, electrical, hydraulic and structural – was strictly up to the minute