The Genesis Of Outdoor Fountains
The Genesis Of Outdoor Fountains A water fountain is an architectural piece that pours water into a basin or jets it high into the air in order to provide drinkable water, as well as for decorative purposes. Pure functionality was the original role of fountains. Cities, towns and villages made use of nearby aqueducts or springs to supply them with drinking water as well as water where they could bathe or wash. Used until the nineteenth century, in order for fountains to flow or shoot up into the air, their origin of water such as reservoirs or aqueducts, had to be higher than the water fountain in order to benefit from the power of gravity. Artists thought of fountains as wonderful additions to a living space, however, the fountains also served to supply clean water and celebrate the artist responsible for creating it. Bronze or stone masks of wildlife and heroes were frequently seen on Roman fountains. Throughout the Middle Ages, Muslim and Moorish garden planners incorporated fountains to create mini depictions of the gardens of paradise. The fountains found in the Gardens of Versailles were intended to show the power over nature held by King Louis XIV of France. The Romans of the 17th and 18th centuries manufactured baroque decorative fountains to exalt the Popes who commissioned them as well as to mark the location where the restored Roman aqueducts entered the city.
Indoor plumbing became the main source of water by the end of the 19th century thereby restricting urban fountains to mere decorative elements. Gravity was replaced by mechanical pumps in order to permit fountains to bring in clean water and allow for beautiful water displays.
Modern-day fountains function mostly as decoration for community spaces, to honor individuals or events, and enhance entertainment and recreational gatherings.
Did You Know How Technical Designs of Fountains Became Known?
Did You Know How Technical Designs of Fountains Became Known? The circulated documents and illustrated pamphlets of the time contributed to the advancements of scientific technology, and were the primary methods of dissiminating useful hydraulic facts and water fountain ideas throughout Europe. A globally recognized leader in hydraulics in the late 1500's was a French water fountain designer, whose name has been lost to history. By developing gardens and grottoes with built-in and ingenious water attributes, he began his occupation in Italy by earning Royal commissions in Brussels, London and Germany. He wrote a publication named “The Principles of Moving Forces” toward the end of his life while in France that turned into the fundamental text on hydraulic technology and engineering. Modernizing key hydraulic discoveries of classical antiquity, the book also explains contemporary hydraulic technologies. Dominant among these works were those of Archimedes, the developer of the water screw, a mechanized method of moving water. A pair of concealed vessels heated up by sunlight in a room adjacent to the creative water fountain were found in an illustration. The end result: the water fountain is triggered by the hot water expanding and rising up the pipelines. Pumps, water wheels, water features and garden pond styles are mentioned in the publication.