This commemorative pedestrian respite area and water feature were designed for Linear Park along Martin Luther King (MLK) Jr. Drive located along Atlanta’s Innovation Corridor.
Our goal in designing the inspirational and educational respite area was to tell Atlanta’s vibrant civil rights history from many diverse perspectives and in many different mediums. Martin Luther King, Jr. used the theme of water in his famous, “I Have a Dream” speech in 1963 when he said:
“…we are not satisfied and will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
In this quotation, justice and righteousness are made synonymous with water. The fountain’s theme, Healing Hands, reaches towards the connections between the cleansing and spiritual aspects of water and its undeniable bond with human nature.
Rising from the pool are two, heroic-sized bronze hands, holding each other in a gesture of support. The flow of water gently ebbs from sculpture’s outstretched hand into the shallow pool of water below, overflowing past the edges of the basin before recycling back through the system. Inspired by a Kente cloth design, the patterned interior of the pool includes various hues of brown, red, white and grey.
