The Self-Taught Gardener: Hydrotherapy

This modernist masterpiece, built in 1975 by landscape architect M. Paul Friedberg, is a sunken plaza and amphitheater. It was saved recently from demolition through the efforts of Charles Birnbaum and the Cultural Landscape Foundation, local leaders, and the Preservation Alliance of Minnesota, which sued to save the historic site. Although the plaza has its share of plantings, it is primarily remembered for its use of concrete and water to create an escape from city life.