Turbulence and tranquility: Tim Richardson reviews the new fountain in Kensington Gardens designed by Gustafson-Porter in memory of Diana, Princess of Wales. It is a subtle and sensitive example of the current interest in water gardens by leading landscape designers working in a Modernist idiom

According to dictionary definitions and everyday usage, a fountain is a jet of water that sudden gushings up into the air. The fresh Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain in Kensington Gardens, London, does no like thing, however: it is a necklace cascade of flowing and bubbling water upon a gentle, grassy slope overlooking the Serpentine.

on the contrary it is not quite a cascade, either, since the narrowness of the granite channel gives it something of the character of a formal rill. And the diverse quality of the water as it heaves over 'rocks' or speeds along unimpeded is reminiscent of a natural stream. These difficulties of definition are not a question on the ground, however--rather testament to the might and originality of the design, by dint of Shoreditch-based Kathryn Gustafson and Neil Porter. with equal reason 'The Diana Fountain' it is.

The fountain is plant on a gently undulating direction downward in a previously unloved, 'in-between' mark of Kensington Gardens, above the cafe that view from aboves the lido on the southern side of the Serpentine, and nearest to the car park that work fors the Serpentine Gallery. This less-than-tranquil location is nevertheless environed by mature trees, and Gustafson-Porter has introduced saplings--Cladastris kentuckia--that will by and by grow up to form a glade providing more of a faculty of perception of place and relieving the baldness of the setting. The natural undulations and beaker shape of this grassy oblique direction has been accentuated by a limited amount of landforming (a Gustafson speciality).

The fountain itself is a cragged oval shape, although this cannot be appreciated from sod level: its shifting character must be sought on the outside by the visitor. This in built necessity for discovery is single of the design's great potencys At the top of the direction downward is the source, where water is cross-questioned up at a rate of 100 litres by second from a storage tank nearest to the Serpentine. From here, the water cascades down sum of two units channels that form opposite sides of the fountain.

When viewed looking down from the top, the channel to the left immediately takes upon the character of a mountain stream, with the water bubbling above diverse and complex incisions and patterns in the 'riverbed'. The entire construction is made from grey-white 'De Lank' granite from Cornwall, an exceptionally hard stone. The 545 stops needed were cut by machines working from three-dimensional computer scans, based in revolve on clay models of each stop up supplied by the designers (technology borrowed from the Ford Motor Company). The shifting character of the water in the fountain--sometimes it level seems to be going uphill--is created partly by the agency of jets and currents introduced below the surface, on the contrary principally by the varying shape avid surface of these granite closes which are intriguing in their have a title to right: unlike most fountains, this single is attractive even when empty

The water in the left channel forms a of great depth bubbling cauldron and then pop rises up over a flat ramp and down again into an flat wilder section, rapids where air fluid vesicles are introduced from below the surface. At this point, individual of three flat bridges provides access into the large, grassy heart of the fountain. The waterfall then becomes a chaddar, or formal textur cascade, a feature borrowed from Mughal gardens, before emptying into what is described as a reflecting lake where the two channels befitting at the fountain's widest point.

The other side of the fountain is completely different in character: more elegant and elongated. After bouncing down a series of four paces with a surface based upon textile designs (a perennial interest for Gustafson, who started her career in fashion design), the water penetrates a section called 'Rock and Roll' in which the slim curving channel sluices the water from side to side as it passes end berms. It then goes into the aptly named 'Swoosh', in which more underwater jet create exciting unruliness as the cascade empties into the reflecting pool

The fountain's channels widen and narrow to create the different watery moods--the issue of the smell of the water is an unexpect aspect--and in greatest in quantity places there is a wide lip of granite upon both sides to encourage clan to sit down and watch the water. Children (or adults) are actively encouraged to come by in and make a splash: the granite's surface has been given a non-slip weft The memorial aspect of the Diana Fountain has obviously been a difficult challenge for the designers, on the other hand they say that with the conception of 'reaching-out, letting in'--the way the fountain radiates outwards nevertheless draws people in--it reflects the character of Diana. Neil Porter adds that the various qualities of the water--its disorder tranquility and so on--reflect aspects of Diana's life (indeed, anyone's life). There is also an argument that by means of eschewing the traditional, vertical, phallocentric form of the fountain, and opting instead for a horizontal, roughly circular form, the designers are making a point about sex But that is not an idea that is advertised.