Three Graces Fountain

The three graces in traditional mythology symbolize brilliance, joy and bloom.

Atlanta landscape architect Spencer Tunnell conceived the Three Graces Fountain then asked celebrated ironworker Andrew Crawford to bring the concept to reality. The collaboration produced a forged bronze bowl supported by three bronze trees resting on a granite pedestal. The bowl holds more than a ton-and-a-half of water. Unlike with some similar fountains, the water is not intended to flow over the top of the bowl with the appearance of a smooth sheet of glass. Nowhere in nature is there this type of flow. It is to gently spill over the top in broken and irregular patterns, like shattered glass, each water fragment refracting the light, enlivening the area.

The bronze trees that support the bowl were forged from welded cylinders and cones, made hollow to become the conduits for the water feeding the fountain, to satisfy the design requirement that there be no visible plumbing. These conduits are sized and configured to satisfy another design requisite that the flow of water into the bowl not be strong enough to break the water's surface.