GARDEN & FOUNTAIN
In early 2023, KnowHow a Los Angeles-based architecture studio invited me to visit Don Katz at his new home in West Hollywood. Don is known as the Blind Potter, and is without sight. He is a person who is in his body – with a rich and varied sensory understanding of his environment – but was sometimes disoriented in his new home, unable to locate it from the street.
The fountain marks the entrance of his home – a piece of sonic wayfinding for the blind and sighted alike. It can be tuned by placing objects in the basin, which will raise and lower the pitch of the fountain. As a ceramicist, Don and I discussed adding pottery, ceramic off casts, found tiles, and sculptural objects that he develops over time. In this way, the fountain is an evolving collaboration. Each added object changes the tone and timbre – the frequency and amplitude of the fountain – creating a personal fingerprint to the sound he now calls home.
The garden is bird-friendly, biodiverse, and rich in aromatic native plants. Planted to support bird life and bird song in mid-city – informed by conversations with my keen brethren at Morami, Terremoto, and the Theodore Payne Foundation.
PRESS: New York Times (Design Issue, Fall 2024)
ARCHITECT: KNOWHOW
THANK YOU to the gardeners at Barranaca Landsape for their muscles, knowledge, and expertise moving the carved works.
PLANTS from Devil Mountain Nursery
WOOD FABRICATION by Jacob VanVraken
INQUIRE ABOUT FOUNTAINS, GARDENS, AND SENSORY DESIGN