The base of the Beacon of Hope, approached from the Washington Park Arboretum, is a classical landscape with formal ambles to its reflecting pool.  Nontraditionally, however, the base is set into the rise of a native prairie landscape, reflecting the indigenous character of the Prairie State, and harboring a wide assortment of native life.  The hill prairie further activates a spatial division between the leisure pathways and bicycle paths to the south of the Beacon, and the formal approach to the Wintergarden on the north.  Visitors to the complex arriving from Obama Square thus circulate around the base of the tower before looking back into the Park Embrace.

Also visible in this scene are the maeniana of the Forum complex, where the public is able to stroll on elevated terraces around the Park Embrace.  This part of the plan is discussed further in the following slides.