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Cascade Waterfall

Cascade Waterfall
Artwork details
Entry ramp
Robert Raymond Woodward AM
(1923–2010)
Cascade Waterfall
Imperial Black Speckled Granite, captured rainwater, water jets

Commissioned for the opening in 1980, collection of the High Court of Australia

Background

The water installation, Cascade Waterfall, softens the High Court's ceremonial ramp and forecourt area. It was designed by an architect who specialised in fountain design, Robert Raymond Woodward AM (1923–2010). A tessellated surface of cascading rapids and tranquil pools is created when water squirted from jets on the forecourt level flows down over granite blocks, resembling an alpine stream. Made from Imperial Black Speckled Granite from Black Hill in South Australia, it runs on captured rainwater and was inspired by Australian volcanic rock formations.

About the artist

Robert Raymond Woodward graduated with honours in architecture from Sydney University and worked for a time in commercial and industrial architecture. After the success of his dandelion inspired design for the El Alamein Memorial Fountain in Kings Cross, Sydney, which won the 1964 New South Wales Institute of Architects Civic Design Award, Woodward was commissioned to design other fountains. In 1987 Woodward was appointed a member of the Order of Australia (AM) for service to architecture, particularly in the field of fountain design. His other prominent water installation designs in Australia include The Canberra Times Fountain in Civic, Canberra, and the Tidal Cascade at Darling Harbour, Sydney.