Saturday, August 8, 2009

Jardin Botanique de Montréal

Jardin Botanique, MontrealThe Botanical Gardens in Montreal were established throughout the 1930s.

This typically Art Deco fountain is in front of the Administration Building. The stepped design is obvious to even a casual glance but there are also reliefs featuring native fauna.

The beaver is a local favourite.

Jardin Botanique, Montreal

The fountain stretches through the gardens in a series of shallow pools.

Jardin Botanique, Montreal

From this angle the lines of the fountain echo the stepped roofline of the central section of the Botanical Gardens Administration Building.

Jardin Botanique, MontrealThis side of the fountain allows the water from the higher level to pass through a number of holes to the pools mentioned previously.

It features two reliefs of cranes or similar long-legged water birds wading among the bullrushes.

Each bird is different from the other providing a naturalistic yet still symetrical arrangement.

Jardin Botanique, Montreal

The main passage for the transfer of water to this side of the fountain is through the mouth of a mythical figure.

Jardin Botanique, Montreal

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4 comments:

  1. sonia a. mascaroAugust 9, 2009 at 1:04 AM

    Hi David,
    Thanks for follow Leaves of Grass!
    You have a great blog and I am glad I found you!
    Have a nice weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  2. David ThompsonAugust 9, 2009 at 10:54 AM

    Thanks Sonia, much appreciated.

    ReplyDelete
  3. KatyaAugust 10, 2009 at 9:10 PM

    Thanks for this interesting post and pictures. I don't know much at all about Canadian gardens but I am very interested in Art Deco gardens as there was a bit of a revival of many of the structures and motifs common to Italian Baroque gardens (which I work on), though with their own deco twist.

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  4. David ThompsonAugust 11, 2009 at 8:33 AM

    Thanks Katya. It is interesting how influences work there way through various aspects of art and architecture.

    ReplyDelete