Contemporary Garden Decor: Outdoor Fountains and their Beginnings
Contemporary Garden Decor: Outdoor Fountains and their Beginnings The incredible architecture of a fountain allows it to provide clean water or shoot water high into air for dramatic effect and it can also serve as an excellent design feature to complement your home.Pure practicality was the original role of fountains. People in cities, towns and villages received their drinking water, as well as water to bathe and wash, via aqueducts or springs in the vicinity. Used until the 19th century, in order for fountains to flow or shoot up into the air, their source of water such as reservoirs or aqueducts, had to be higher than the water fountain in order to benefit from gravity. Fountains were not only used as a water source for drinking water, but also to decorate homes and celebrate the designer who created it. The main components used by the Romans to build their fountains were bronze or stone masks, mostly depicting animals or heroes. Muslims and Moorish landscaping designers of the Middle Ages included fountains to re-create smaller models of the gardens of paradise. To show his prominence over nature, French King Louis XIV included fountains in the Garden of Versailles. Seventeen and 18 century Popes sought to exalt their positions by adding beautiful baroque-style fountains at the point where restored Roman aqueducts arrived into the city.
Urban fountains built at the end of the 19th century served only as decorative and celebratory adornments since indoor plumbing provided the necessary drinking water. Gravity was replaced by mechanical pumps in order to permit fountains to bring in clean water and allow for amazing water displays.
Modern fountains are used to embellish public spaces, honor individuals or events, and enrich recreational and entertainment events.