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Jaume Plensa — Crown Fountain
Jaume Plensa

Crown Fountain

2004

Crown Fountain is a monumental interactive water feature featuring two 50-foot-tall glass block towers that display continuously changing video portraits of Chicago residents. Created by Spanish artist Jaume Plensa and completed in 2004, the work merges digital media with traditional fountain elements, projecting intimate close-up faces and expressions across its LED-illuminated facade. The base functions as a shallow reflecting pool where visitors wade and play, transforming the artwork into a communal gathering space that celebrates human identity and connection. Constructed from glass blocks and embedded with LED technology, the fountain cycles through thousands of digitized portraits, creating an ever-shifting display that captures the diversity of the city's population. This iconic public artwork has become a defining centerpiece of Millennium Park, exemplifying contemporary approaches to monumental sculpture that prioritize viewer participation and emotional engagement. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith — Library of Congress (public domain)

Medium
Glass, LED, water

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About this work

Jaume Plensa, Crown Fountain, 2004

Crown Fountain is a monumental interactive water feature featuring two 50-foot-tall glass block towers that display continuously changing video portraits of Chicago residents. Created by Spanish artist Jaume Plensa and completed in 2004, the work merges digital media with traditional fountain elements, projecting intimate close-up faces and expressions across its LED-illuminated facade. The base functions as a shallow reflecting pool where visitors wade and play, transforming the artwork into a communal gathering space that celebrates human identity and connection. Constructed from glass blocks and embedded with LED technology, the fountain cycles through thousands of digitized portraits, creating an ever-shifting display that captures the diversity of the city's population. This iconic public artwork has become a defining centerpiece of Millennium Park, exemplifying contemporary approaches to monumental sculpture that prioritize viewer participation and emotional engagement. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith — Library of Congress (public domain)

Medium
Glass, LED, water
Year
2004
Seen at
Millennium Park, Chicago, United States

Related themes

Participatory Art, Urban Art, Public Space, Chicago Landmark, Glass Sculpture, Public Art, Mixed Media, LED Installation, Digital Media, Water Feature, Modern Fountain, Portraiture, Monumental Sculpture, Community Art, Contemporary Art, Video Art, Interactive Art, Millennium Park, Human Identity, Twenty First Century

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Collected by

Kylie Cohen, Alex Capecelatro