Vaillancourt Fountain
| Vaillancourt Fountain | |
|---|---|
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| Artist | Armand Vaillancourt |
| Year | 1971 |
| Type | Precast concrete |
| Dimensions | 12 m (40 ft) |
| Location | Justin Herman Plaza, San Francisco, California, United States |
Vaillancourt Fountain, sometimes called Quebec libre!, is a large fountain located in Justin Herman Plaza in San Francisco, designed by the Québécois artist Armand Vaillancourt in 1971. It is about 40 feet (12 m) high and is constructed out of precast concrete square tubes. Long considered controversial because of its stark, modernist appearance, there have been several unsuccessful proposals to demolish the fountain over the years. It was the site of a free concert by U2 in 1987, when lead singer Bono spray painted graffiti on the fountain and was both praised and criticized for the action.
The fountain is located in a highly visible spot on the downtown San Francisco waterfront, in Justin Herman Plaza, where Market Street meets The Embarcadero. The Hyatt Regency Hotel is at the edge of the plaza, adjacent to the other four highrise towers of the Embarcadero Center. Across The Embarcadero is the Ferry Building, and the eastern end of the California Street cable car line is on the other side of the Hyatt Regency Hotel.
When Vaillancourt designed the fountain, the elevated Embarcadero Freeway or Interstate 480, was still in existence along the Embarcadero. The fountain was designed with the freeway environment in mind, but it was built to bring people to an expansive public space.
Vaillancourt Fountain was a product of the redevelopment of San Francisco that took place in the 1950s and 1960s. The Transamerica Pyramid was constructed from 1969-1972 and BART was also being constructed, the Embarcadero Station would eventually open in 1976.
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