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Set between the George R. Brown Convention Center and the rest of downtown Houston, Discovery Green is an attractive public space designed to maximize usage. Packed into its 12 acres are gardens (who can resist the Waste Management Garden?); the only ‘hills’ downtown that don’t slope into Buffalo Bayou; lawns; a playground; interactive fountains; a model boat basin; performance spaces; a jogging trail; two dog areas (one for small dogs, one for large); indoor reading rooms; a bocce court (complete with instructions on how to play bocce); a putting green; a shuffleboard court; public sculpture; and two restaurants. Missing are picnic areas (visitors should be using the two restaurants) and places to sit comfortably (meant to discourage vagrants).
Since opening in April, the park has been packed with adults and children. Kids really like the interactive fountains, much like the ones provided by Landry’s at the Downtown Aquarium and the Kemah Boardwalk. You can’t miss the entrances to the parking garage underneath the park; called the Synchronicity of Color and the work of Margo Sawyer, they were obviously inspired by Rubix Cubes. Doug Hollis created two interactive sculptures for the park. Mist Tree sprays an allegedly cool mist - not exactly what you want on a humid day. Listening Vessels is pretty cool. Two concave sculptures sit about 25 feet apart; what is said in one ‘vessel’ can be heard in the other, as if the person were sitting right beside you. And, of course, there’s Jean Dubuffet’s recently relocated, colorful Monument au Fantome, set perfectly with downtown in the backdrop.
Performances are heavily scheduled on the park’s stages; if this will last, or if the performances are as ephemeral as those in Jones Plaza and Main Street Square, remains to be seen.
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Listening Vessels
Synchronicity of Color
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