On a recent trip to Helsinki’s amusement park Linnanmaki, we came across a fountain that Ilona mentioned was somehow connected to the fountain in Sydney’s Kings Cross. Having lived in Sydney for eleven years my interest was piqued – how did such a famous monument in the Southern Hemisphere come to be replicated here, at a fun park, more than 9000 miles away?
The fountain at Linnanmaki
Like all good investigative reporters I headed straight to Wikipedia (ha!) where I was happy to read but misinformed that the man who designed the Kings Cross fountain was born in New Zealand. Turns out Bob Woodward was actually born in Sydney in 1923 and his career designing fountains that resemble dandelion thistles had a strong link to Finland.
El Alamein Fountain, Kings Cross
During World War II, Woodward worked mostly as an armourer where he honed his skills working with wood and metal. After the war he studied architecture and travelled to Finland to study with one of the country’s most famous artists, Alvar Aalto. Woodward was impressed by Aalto’s commitment to bringing the organic world into design. During an interview in 1996 he said “Aalto’s principles are that essentially everything in architecture is related to biology. If you take a leaf from a tree, for example, you can see design principles which should apply to architecture itself.”
Aalto’s iconic vase – at times attributed to the flow of a Sami woman’s dress or the lakes of Finland
In 1955 Woodward returned to Australia where he won a competition to design the El Alamein Memorial Fountain to commemorate the Australian soldiers who fought in Egypt in 1942. The fountain became an icon for Australian tourism and is now a common meeting place for people in Kings Cross.
Woodward’s legacy spread like dandelion spores across the globe
Woodward went on to win international recognition for his design and had a long career designing fountains around the world. His works can now be found in countries as diverse as USA, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, France, Turkey, Sweden, Romania, Ukraine, China and yes! New Zealand. In 1972 the Ferrier family commissioned replica fountains to mark the opening of the Christchurch Town Hall in New Zealand.
Ferrier Fountains in Christchurch – Photo Credit: Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 1021-1516
Hey Helsinki 
Great post Melanie and I love the images of the fountains. They really do look like dandelions 🙂
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Thanks Joe! Hope you’re having a good weekend ; )
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You also Melanie 🙂
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Hey Mel, I am living vicariously through your lovely and thought provoking posts.X
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Thanks Jim, that’s lovely to know. It’s great to feel connected over such a long distance! x
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I never knew that fountain was meant to be a dandelion, but so obvious now. They’re all so lovely
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Yes, I can imagine you loving that idea Keels. They really do seem to be all over the world now, or variations at least. It’s like that first one did spawn all the others…x
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Love this Mel. It reminded me of a fountain in Canberra. It’s similar but different. Anyway after a quick google it turns out its by Robert Woodward too!
http://www.arts.act.gov.au/arts-in-the-act/public-art/the-canberra-times-fountain
How lucky are we that his work is in all our favourite places! I wish I could spend my life making beautiful things. Who knew fountain maker was a career option?! I think I’ll make a complaint to our old careers councillor in school!
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That’s beautiful! Thanks for the link Helen. I had read he had gone on to do quite a few fountains around Australia but hadn’t seen them all. That’s a really nice variation on the theme. I love it. Re: careers at school – I know! We made pencil cases and dustpans in wood and metal work….no mention of fountains at that stage. Must be different now though! x
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