Case studies  
Art as a sewage treatment facility  
   
Art as neighborhood stormwater filtration and detention  
   
Art as a Bridge between Man and Nature  
   
Waterworks Gardens, Renton, WA  
Waterworks Garden is a new type of public space that merges technology, ecology and community values with art. Artist Lorna Jordan, responsible for leading the design process, collaborated with Landscape Architects Jones and Jones, who assisted in the design. Waterworks Garden serves as a prototype of how a public facility, like a sewage-treatment plant, can also serve as public open space. The garden becomes an educational space where visitors learn about sewage-treatment and the filtration of storm-water runoff. The garden brings visitors up close to examine storm water treatment, a process normally out of view in public facilities. The process of storm water treatment is conveyed through the "metaphor of (the) journey of water through the hydrologic cycle" (Jordan 1996). Walking along the winding path through a lush landscape of native plants, ponds and wetlands, one might over look the fact that this landscape is cleansing contaminants in the storm water.  
   

Figure 1. Site plan of the Waterworks Garden

 Waterworks Garden is situated on 8 acres of land. Storm water treatment ponds and wetlands are linked in a design of earth sculptures that capture and release water. Storm water runoff from the adjoining wastewater reclamation plant is collected and pumped into the eleven ponds. First, sediments and contaminants settle out within the ponds, then water is released to a marsh containing wetland plants and microorganisms. This environment serves as habitat for waterfowl and wetland wildlife. The garden is composed of five outdoor rooms that reveal the process of water purification and serve as a stage for the story of Jordan's design (Figure 1).
 
   
The five outdoor rooms are The Knoll, The Funnel, The Grotto, The Passage, and The Release. The story of how the garden came to life is revealed in the journey of the water. Before Waterworks was built, storm water runoff from the treatment plant drained into Springbrook Creek, located at the opposite side of the site. Part of the design challenge was to redirect storm water. In order to achieve this a vault and pump were installed. Water is pumped to the uppermost room, The Knoll, where ten standing basalt columns frame the first storm water treatment pond. The lower-lying wetlands that reveal the process of water purification can be seen from this outlook (Figure 2).

Figure 2. The Knoll
 
   
A winding path engages visitors, leading them through the garden rooms while following the story of the water cycles. Cleansed storm water is then discharged into Springbrook Creek from the last room, The Release. It is possible to enter the park at more than one point, though the only interpretive sign might not be seen until the end of one's visit. The design of Waterworks Garden educates as it entertains and provides passive and active recreational opportunities. The artist's iconographic program provides a deeper meaning for a facility which usually is inaccessible to the public.  
   

S.E.A. Streets, Seattle, WA

  
The S.E.A. Streets project, designed for the Pipers Creek Watershed, aims to evaluate surface water run-off from non-arterial residential streets and construct alternative means for providing for surface water run-off from non-arterial residential streets (Figure 3). The project works toward the protection of creek ecosystems through storm wa ter management, community stewardship and the use of alternative street design. The alternative street designs provide improved storm water quantity and quality and increase the aesthetic appeal of the neighborhood.  
   
 
Figure 3. Site plan of the S.E.A. Streets supplied by SPU  
   

This project has several objectives: 1) decrease of runoff, peak flow and volume; 2) minimize impervious surface area; 3) document effects of alternative design through research studies; 4) minimize maintenance requirements through proper design and resident stewardship; 5) design the street to reduce vehicle speeds, provide a sidewalk on one side of the street and incorporate landscape design plan that complements the drainage system; 6) change the existing paradigm that a curb/gutter/sidewalk system is necessary in residential areas (SPU 2000).

  
   

Figure 4. One of the swales surrounded by plants

 Currently, surface drainage for Pipers Creek Watershed occurs primarily through ditch/culvert and surface street runoff. In Seattle, storm water is directed to the underground storm system and ultimately discharged to surface receiving waters such as Lake Washington, Puget Sound, or other creek systems. SPU and Seattle Transportation (SEATRAN) evaluated several options to meet the objectives and needs of property owners along the block, such as providing parking spaces and a sidewalk. The final design of the drainage system consists of a series of twelve swales connected by culverts. The swales store rainwater or water from a possible six-month storm event. Following its collection, the water is slowly released to the creek. Native landscaping and trees are other important elements of the street design (Figure 4); they encourage community stewardship (SPU 2000).
 
   
The project is expected to cost between $700 and $800, a price lower than the standard street drainage system (Arnesen 2000). The S.E.A. Streets project is successful in blending al ternative street designs into the character of the neighborhood and challenging the present standard of streets.