To reimagine the Charles Brooks Memorial Peace Fountain on the Detroit River in Windsor, Canada, our design approach implemented an inter-generational value-based process. The existing Peace Fountain is a highly respected landmark of the City of Windsor, and reimagining the fountain required reimaging the community engagement process. Having the community define shared values for the project was critical–knowing what is valued, and what opportunities the project presents to create value, allow design to take place.
The Peace Fountain is a place of memory–somewhere to spend time with family and friends, to find calmness, to celebrate life events, and remember loved ones. The value-based design process started with collecting these memories. Windsorites were invited to share stories of the Peace Fountain, and based on the feedback, we identified key values of the project.
Three design options were developed–water-based, land-based, and land/water hybrid. While different in form, substrate, and cost, all three designs champion similar, community-informed values, such as all-season operation, use as a public arts platform, and support for continuous temporary programming. The water-based option exhibited an illuminated orb able to sustain the winter, and in the summer, opened up to feature a timeless fountain reminiscent of community memories. The land-based design featured a land-rooted expansive arc over the bay, and lastly, the hybrid option served as an extension of the riverfront boundary, where an integrated berm offsets the predicted rising water levels of the Detroit River.
All options run on renewable energy generated by the currents of the Detroit River, and using a submersible turbine, the fountain will generate more energy than it consumes on a net-annual basis. This use of innovative clean-tech furthers the Peace Fountain’s symbolic role in the city by creating a very public marker of the innovative industrial economy of Windsor.
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