Landscape Information
This 0.92-acre elevated plaza is located on the multi-level parking garage roof structure of the Muhammad Ali Center in the city’s downtown. Designed by artist Athena Tacha with Dennis Carmichael of EDAW (now AECOM), this tri-level plaza (2009) interprets Ali's desire for an Islamic garden. Located along the southern bank of the Ohio River, the plaza integrates a dynamic water feature, raised planting beds, and a dramatic step-sculpture amphitheater that hugs the southwestern edge of the 96,000-square-foot complex designed by Skolnick Architecture. The plaza's overall design is inspired by Ali's life from his modest Louisville origins to his stature as a transcendent athlete and cultural icon.
Along the upper plaza's river-facing edge, a cascading glass tiered waterfall leads to a narrow runnel that extends 75 feet south through a formal geometric garden meant to recall a traditional 'Charbagh.' Tacha's stepped, limestone sculpture— named Dancing Steps by the artist, in recognition of Ali’s boxing style—connects the upper and lower tiers. Water flows through an arched, descending runnel towards a star-shaped fountain that anchors the lower plaza, meant as a gathering place for visitors.
Named “Star Fountain,” the twelve-pointed water feature comprises six symmetrical radiating rows of 48 glass columns—ranging from three to twelve feet in height. Concrete arcing forms are embedded into the bricked groundplane, extending outward from each point of the star. Each one echoes the shape of the runnel, directing visitors to key features at the plaza’s perimeter edge, including the museum’s entrance and curved raised beds planted with deciduous trees. Originally animated by water and LED lights, the runnel and fountain are now deactivated; the latter has been converted into a planter.
