We were initially approached by the City of Mebane to design and build a water feature for the Veteran’s Memorial Garden.
After meeting with the local VFW, we compiled several requirements to structure the design around.
First, the feature needed to honor all five branches of the military, Army, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard & National Guard.
Second, it needed to maintain an audience from various sides so that visitors could appreciate the feature without crowding the space. Third, we wanted to introduce written word to help the viewers understand the artistic representation most intuitively.
Because the military is central to our security as a nation, we felt this monument should be centered in the garden so that traffic could flow around it, without congestion.
The Monument itself is as simple as it is complex. There are five pillars of strength, equal in stature composed in natural stone, with single boulder format. Each boulder is set in corner of a Pentagon as a nod to our military headquarters and together to show that united we can stand as one though we are individually unique.
Water pools at the top of the boulders spilling over between each pillar. Being a fountain, it would need a catch basin to contain the recirculated water. By carrying the pentagonal lines to their respective intersections we find the form of a star, the only logical answer to the question of what shape should the basin be. With each point of the star, we could receive the most sacred element water, into a small but shared space. Each leg of the star allows the space to