The Beginnings of Contemporary Wall Fountains
The Beginnings of Contemporary Wall Fountains
The translation of hundreds of ancient Greek documents into Latin was commissioned by the learned Pope Nicholas V who ruled the Church in Rome from 1397 until 1455. He undertook the embellishment of Rome to turn it into the worthy capital of the Christian world. Reconstruction of the Acqua Vergine, a ruined Roman aqueduct which had carried clean drinking water into the city from eight miles away, began in 1453 at the bidding of the Pope. The historical Roman custom of marking the arrival point of an aqueduct with an imposing celebratory fountain, also known as a mostra, was restored by Nicholas V. The architect Leon Battista Alberti was directed by the Pope to construct a wall fountain where we now see the Trevi Fountain. The water which eventually supplied the Trevi Fountain as well as the renown baroque fountains in the Piazza del Popolo and Piazza Navona flowed from the modified aqueduct which he had renovated.
Original Water Delivery Techniques in Rome
Original Water Delivery Techniques in Rome With the construction of the first raised aqueduct in Rome, the Aqua Anio Vetus in 273 BC, individuals who lived on the city’s foothills no longer had to rely exclusively on naturally-occurring spring water for their requirements. Over this period, there were only two other techniques capable of delivering water to higher areas, subterranean wells and cisterns, which gathered rainwater.
Beginning in the sixteenth century, a new method was introduced, using Acqua Vergine’s subterranean sectors to generate water to Pincian Hill. As originally constructed, the aqueduct was provided along the length of its channel with pozzi (manholes) constructed at regular intervals. Even though they were originally planned to make it possible to support the aqueduct, Cardinal Marcello Crescenzi started out using the manholes to get water from the channel, opening when he bought the property in 1543. The cistern he had constructed to obtain rainwater wasn’t sufficient to meet his water specifications. To give himself with a much more efficient system to obtain water, he had one of the manholes opened up, offering him access to the aqueduct below his residence.
The Genesis Of Garden Fountains
The Genesis Of Garden 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.From the beginning, outdoor fountains were simply meant to serve as functional elements. 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 artist who created it. Roman fountains often depicted imagery of animals or heroes made of bronze or stone masks. During the Middle Ages, Muslim and Moorish garden designers included fountains in their designs to re-create the gardens of paradise. King Louis XIV of France wanted to demonstrate his dominion over nature by including fountains in the Gardens of Versailles. Seventeen and 18 century Popes sought to laud their positions by including decorative baroque-style fountains at the point where restored Roman aqueducts arrived into the city.
Urban fountains created at the end of the nineteenth functioned only as decorative and celebratory adornments since indoor plumbing provided the necessary drinking water. Amazing water effects and recycled water were made possible by switching the force of gravity with mechanical pumps.
Beautifying city parks, honoring people or events and entertaining, are some of the functions of modern-day fountains.
The Dispersion of Outdoor Fountain Design Knowledge
The Dispersion of Outdoor Fountain Design Knowledge The published documents and illustrated pamphlets of the day contributed to the advancements of scientific innovation, and were the primary means of dissiminating practical hydraulic concepts and water feature ideas all through Europe. An unnamed French fountain designer became an internationally renowned hydraulic innovator in the later part of the 1500's. His know-how in developing gardens and grottoes with incorporated and imaginative water features began in Italy and with commissions in Brussels, London and Germany. He wrote a book entitled “The Principles of Moving Forces” toward the conclusion of his life while in France which turned into the essential text on hydraulic mechanics and engineering. Explaining modern hydraulic technologies, the publication also updated critical hydraulic discoveries of classical antiquity. Dominant among these works were those of Archimedes, the inventor of the water screw, a mechanized method of transferring water. An beautiful water feature with sunlight heating the liquid in two vessels concealed in an neighboring room was presented in one illustration. What occurs is the heated liquid expanded, goes up and locks up the piping leading to the water feature, and thus leading to stimulation. The publication additionally mentions garden ponds, water wheels, water feature designs.