artmuseumdesign
Can public art double as a splash pad?
Quick answer
Yes — many public-art commissions include water as a medium and double as splash pads. Examples: Crown Fountain Chicago (Jaume Plensa), Salmon Street Springs Portland, the Salt Lake City Sundance Plaza, and many city-plaza commissioned works. Both art and play coexist with appropriate design.
Public-art-as-splash-pad is a growing trend where commissioned artworks intentionally invite interactive water-play. The most famous example is Jaume Plensa's Crown Fountain at Chicago's Millennium Park — twin 50-foot glass towers with rotating face videos that spit jets, drawing thousands of kids on summer days. Other notable examples: Salmon Street Springs in Portland (Carter & Reddy designed plaza fountain with interactive jets), Sundance Plaza Salt Lake City (Stephen Goldsmith), Bay Adelaide Square Toronto, and Pacific Place Seattle. The model treats the artwork as the splash pad itself rather than adding art to a separate pad. Design integrates artistic concept, water choreography, child-safety, and durability from inception. Commissions range $500K-15M. Cities with strong public-art programs (Chicago, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, Austin) lead the trend. The result: civic-identity-defining works that draw both art tourists and family-play visitors, doubling utilization of expensive plaza investments.