Your first view takes in three distinct pools across the Fort Worth Water Gardens, an urban park on the south end of downtown Fort Worth. This 4.3-acre (1.7-hectare) site sits between Houston and Commerce Streets next to the Fort Worth Convention Center. The Gardens were built in 1974, designed by noted New York architects Philip Johnson and John Burgee, and dedicated to the City of Fort Worth by the Amon G. Carter Foundation.
The park’s focal points are three distinct pools: the Quiet Pool, encircled with cypress trees and towering walls covered in thin planes of water that cascade almost 90 degrees down to a sunken blue water feature; the Aerated Pool, which features multiple illuminated spray fountains under a canopy of large oak trees; and the Active Pool, the main attraction, where water falls 38 feet (11 m) down terraces and steps into a small pool at the bottom. Often billed as a "cooling oasis in the concrete jungle," the Gardens are softened by a terraced knoll, and Interstate 30 was relocated from its former site immediately adjacent to the Water Gardens, making the south end quieter. The cascading walls, the oak canopy and the three pools fill the space, with the streets and Convention Center close beside you.