Water at Play: Eric Dobbs’ and Jennifer Johnson’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.

Eric Dobbs
Casa de Cantera
Bakersfield, Calif.

Jennifer Johnson
Cock-a-Doodle-doo
Cathedral City, Calif.

This wildly expressive composition – the work of sculptor/designer Jennifer Johnson and stone-fountain specialist Eric Dobbs – is found in the desert community of Cathedral City, Calif. Material was quarried and sculpted in Mexico, assembled off site and eventually trucked to the desert for painstaking reassembly. Reminiscent in its tiled animal forms of Gaudi’s Park Guell, the interactive composition offers the perfect haven for families looking for a place to cool off