Where did Fountains Begin?
Where did Fountains Begin? The amazing or decorative effect of a fountain is just one of the purposes it fulfills, as well as providing drinking water and adding a decorative touch to your property.The main purpose of a fountain was originally strictly practical. People in cities, towns and villages received their drinking water, as well as water to bathe and wash, from aqueducts or springs in the vicinity.
Up until the 19th century, fountains had to be higher and closer to a water source, including aqueducts and reservoirs, in order to benefit from gravity which fed the fountains. Fountains were not only utilized as a water source for drinking water, but also to adorn homes and celebrate the designer who created it. Animals or heroes made of bronze or stone masks were often used by Romans to beautify their fountains. Muslims and Moorish landscaping designers of the Middle Ages included fountains to re-create smaller models of the gardens of paradise. King Louis XIV of France wanted to illustrate his superiority over nature by including fountains in the Gardens of Versailles. The Popes of the 17th and 18th centuries were extolled with baroque style fountains made to mark the arrival points of Roman aqueducts.
Indoor plumbing became the key source of water by the end of the 19th century thereby restricting urban fountains to mere decorative elements. Fountains using mechanical pumps instead of gravity enabled fountains to deliver recycled water into living spaces as well as create unique water effects.
Beautifying city parks, honoring people or events and entertaining, are some of the purposes of modern-day fountains.
The Dispersion of Outdoor Fountain Design Innovation
The Dispersion of Outdoor Fountain Design Innovation Throughout Europe, the chief means of dissiminating practical hydraulic understanding and fountain design ideas were the circulated papers and illustrated books of the day, which contributed to the development of scientific innovation.
In the late 1500's, a French fountain developer (whose name has been lost) was the globally distinguished hydraulics pioneer. His competence in creating gardens and grottoes with built-in and imaginative water features began in Italy and with mandates in Brussels, London and Germany. In France, near the end of his life, he published “The Principle of Moving Forces”, a book which became the essential text on hydraulic mechanics and engineering. Classical antiquity hydraulic discoveries were outlined as well as changes to essential classical antiquity hydraulic advancements in the publication. Notable among these works were those of Archimedes, the developer of the water screw, a mechanical means of transferring water. Two hidden vessels heated by sunlight in a space next to the ornamental water fountain were presented in an illustration. The heated liquid expands and then ascends and shuts the water lines consequently triggering the water fountain. Designs for pumps, water wheels, water attributes and outdoor ponds are also included in the guide.