Marvels of Modernism: Heritage Plaza
Texas is gifted with many celebrated public landscapes from the modern era including Philip Johnson’s Fort Worth Water Gardens (1974) and Thanks-Giving Square (1974); Daniel Kiley’s Fountain Place (1986) and Dallas Museum of Art (1983); and Peter Walker’s Nasher Sculpture Center Garden (2005). However, Heritage Plaza is the state’s only significant design by Presidential Medal of Arts recipient Lawrence Halprin, FASLA.
Located within Heritage Park and at the site of the city’s original settlement, Heritage Plaza which was designated on the Nation’s Bicentennial provides a physical link from the city’s downtown to the Trinity River and a symbolic link to the city’s heritage. Disconcertingly, the City of Fort Worth has ended water flow through the park’s features and cut off public access. Halprin’s design celebrated the pioneering vision of the city’s founders, a vision that needs to be resurrected in order to restore the glory of this nationally significant landscape.