Revson Fountain is a fountain installed in the

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...

, a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of the

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

in New York City. The fountain was dedicated in 1964 and a redesign was completed in 2009.

History

Philip Johnson Philip Cortelyou Johnson (July 8, 1906 – January 25, 2005) was an American architect best known for his works of modern and postmodern architecture. Among his best-known designs are his modernist Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut; the pos ...

Associates, the fountain was dedicated on April 7, 1964. It was originally called the Lincoln Center fountain; its namesake is

Charles Revson Charles Haskell Revson (October 11, 1906 – August 24, 1975) was an American businessman and philanthropist. He was best known as a pioneering cosmetics industry executive who created the first pigment-based nail polish and founded and managed R ...

. The fountain was funded by the Revlon Foundation in 1962.

Diller Scofidio + Renfro Diller Scofidio + Renfro is an American interdisciplinary design studio that integrates architecture, the visual arts, and the performing arts. Based in New York City, Diller Scofidio + Renfro is led by four partners – Elizabeth Diller, Ricardo ...

, the lead architects of the 2006 renovation of Lincoln Center, made several proposals to redesign the fountain, eventually changing the perimeter bench to a floating granite disk; the fountain itself was rebuilt by

WET Design WET, also known as WET Design, is a water feature design firm based in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1983 by former Disney Walt Disney Imagineering, Imagineers Mark Fuller (designer), Mark Fuller, Melanie Simon, and Alan Robinson, the compa ...

from 2007 to 2009.

Andrew Dolkart Andrew Scott Dolkart is a professor of Historic Preservation at the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP) and the former Director of the school's Historic Preservation Program. Professor Dolkart is ...

objected to the redesign: "It’s the thing that upsets me most of all about what's happened at Lincoln Center. They thought that they needed to spend a lot of money ripping out Philip Johnson's fountain and putting in something new instead of restoring something that worked well." The rebuilt fountain debuted on September 30, 2009, at a ceremony attended by members of Charles Revson's family.

Design

As originally designed, the fountain employed 568 jets and 88 lights with a combined illumination power of 26 kW. It was in diameter and was computer controlled, capable of shooting water in the air. J. S. Hamel of Hamel and Lancer was credited with engineering the fountain. The core of the fountain was an array of 40 jets arranged in a diameter circle around 16 lights capable of throwing water in the air; there were two larger concentric rings with smaller jets outside the core. The total combined flowrate of all the nozzles was . The water level of the fountain was elevated from the plaza level in the original design, which used a curb and bench around the perimeter of the retaining pool; during the redesign, the water level was lowered to the level of the plaza and the bench was reduced to a circular rim floating on slim supports. The redesigned fountain contains 353 jets arrayed in three concentric rings and 272 lights with a total illumination power of 27.2 kW. After the redesign, the fountain is capable of shooting water as high as in the air; 24 pumps move up to .

In popular media

Revson Fountain has been featured in several notable films set in New York City, including: * ''The Producers'' (1967) * ''Sweet Charity'' (1969) * ''On a Clear Day You Can See Forever'' (1970) * ''Godspell'' (1973) * ''Manhattan'' (1979) * ''

Ghostbusters ''Ghostbusters'' is a 1984 American Supernatural fiction, supernatural comedy film directed and produced by Ivan Reitman, and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. It stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis as Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and ...

'' (1984) * ''

Moonstruck ''Moonstruck'' is a 1987 American romantic comedy-drama film directed and co-produced by Norman Jewison, written by John Patrick Shanley, and starring Cher, Nicolas Cage, Danny Aiello, Olympia Dukakis, and Vincent Gardenia. The film follows Lor ...

'' (1987) * ''Sweet Home Alabama'' (2002) In 2017, the water in Revson Fountain was dyed bright yellow during a prank.

References

External links

* {{Commons category-inline, Revson Fountain 1964 establishments in New York City Fountains in New York City Lincoln Center