By Alexandra Hammersla
By: Alexandra Hammersla
Located on the south side of campus is the Cholis G. Ingram Spirit of Women Park designed by MSSK Studios. Ingram was a former volunteer at Ohio State’s Wexner Medical Center. Its one hundred and seventy five foot long crescent shaped fountain is nestled between Westpark Street and Medical Center Drive.
The Spirit of Women Park is a calm amongst and emotional medicine campus. On the campus this landscape is used as an escape. The different types of planting make the area feel a little more enclosed and intimate. Here you can find students taking a lunch break, visitors waiting for loved ones to get out of surgery, and doctors resting after a long day.
The main feature of this park is it uniquely shaped reflecting pool. The flat side invites visitors in to see over one hundred and fifty etched glass tiles. These tiles are drawings and letters to women from family and friends. All of the tiles are depicted in black and while rather than their original color. All are designed to look like they are “floating” the materials used are glass, stone and water.
Circulation flows around the fountain. It allows you to interact with the water from every angle. The park has access from all sides and corners of the park, so that anyone from the campus can easily access the area.
While this park doesn’t have obvious facilities like other major parks it still has different functions. It serves as a lunch spot or a place to read. It could also be unitized a place to study or maybe even a place to meet up.
Aesthetically it adds a lot of beauty to an area that is only used for medical purposes. The serenity of the fountain spot adds a calm to the space for visitors to reflect. While it may be dedicated to women, the space embodies more a tranquility.
This park is a tranquil spot amongst the entire campus and a spot that is severally overlooked. However the space is a great addition to the city and one that benefits not only the students, but also the visitors.
MKSK – Projects – CHLOIS G. INGRAM SPIRIT OF WOMEN PARK, COLUMBUS OHIO. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2015.