Reflecting Pool

A reflecting pool, also called a reflection pool, is a water feature found in gardens, parks, and memorial sites. It usually consists of a shallow pool of water, undisturbed by fountain jets, for a reflective surface.

Design

Reflecting pools are often designed with the outer basin floor at the rim slightly deeper than the central area to suppress wave formation. They can be as small as a bird bath to as large as a major civic element. Their origins are from ancient Persian gardens.

List of notable pools

* The Miroir d'eau (Water mirror) on Place de la Bourse in Bordeaux, France, is the world's largest reflecting pool.
* The Mughal garden reflecting pools at the Taj Mahal in Agra, India
* Chehel Sotoun in Iran
* The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and Capitol Reflecting Pool, in Washington, D.C.
* Mary Gibbs and Jesse H. Jones Reflection Pool, Hermann Park, Houston, Texas, U.S.
* The modernist Palácio do Planalto and Palácio da Alvorada in Brasília, Brazil
* Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park in Atlanta, Georgia
* The Oklahoma City National Memorial, at the site of the Oklahoma City bombing
* The Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, California, a former reflecting pool was located in front of the stage, circa 1953 - 1972.
* The National September 11 Memorial & Museum, located at the World Trade Center site in New York City, has two reflecting pools on the location where the Twin Towers stood.

Gallery

File:Taj Mahal 001.jpg, The reflecting pool of the Taj Mahal
Image:WLM14ES - Patio de los Arrayanes, Alhambra. - julianrdc.jpg, The reflecting pool in the Patio de los Arrayanes, at the Moorish Alhambra of Granada, Spain
Image:Chehel Sotoun 2.JPG, A World Heritage Persian garden site, Chehel Sotoun, in Iran.
Image:ReflectionPool UWA gobeirne.jpg, Reflecting Pool at the University of Western Australia
File:Palacio do Planalto.jpeg, Reflecting pool of the Palácio do Planalto (Planalto Palace), in Brazil's modernist capital city Brasília
Image:Water reflections of clouds in water (27327378883).jpg, Washington Monument from the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C.
Image:USA_09562_Boston_Luca_Galuzzi_2007.jpg, Reflecting pool at Christian Science Plaza in Boston, Massachusetts
Image:Hermann Park Texas.jpg, Mary Gibbs and Jesse H. Jones Reflection Pool in Hermann Park in Houston, Texas
Image:12.6.11BerryBerensonPanelN-76ByLuigiNovi5.jpg, The North Reflecting Pool at the National September 11 Memorial and Museum at dusk, World Trade Center, New York
Image:ChristchurchArtsCentrePond gobeirne.jpg, Reflecting pond at the Christchurch Arts Centre in New Zealand

References

{{Islamic architecture

Garden features
Bodies of water
Architectural elements
Islamic architectural elements
Persian gardens