The Dissemination of Fountain Design Innovation
The Dissemination of Fountain Design Innovation The circulated documents and illustrated pamphlets of the time contributed to the evolution of scientific technology, and were the primary methods of dissiminating useful hydraulic concepts and fountain ideas throughout Europe. A globally renowned pioneer in hydraulics in the late 1500's was a French fountain designer, whose name has been lost to history.
With imperial commissions in Brussels, London and Germany, he began his work in Italy, building knowledge in garden design and grottoes with built-in and clever water hydraulics. The publication, “The Principles of Moving Forces,” written towards the end of his lifetime in France, turned into the definitive text on hydraulic mechanics and engineering. Updating key hydraulic discoveries of classical antiquity, the publication also explains contemporary hydraulic technologies. As a mechanized way to push water, Archimedes devised the water screw, chief among key hydraulic innovations. Sunlight heating liquid in a pair of containers concealed in a room adjacent to an ornamental water fountain was displayed in one illustration. The hot water expands and then ascends and shuts the pipes thereby triggering the water fountain. The book furthermore includes garden ponds, water wheels, water feature creations.
Contemporary Garden Decor: Fountains and their Roots
Contemporary Garden Decor: Fountains and their Roots The dramatic or ornamental effect of a fountain is just one of the purposes it fulfills, in addition to providing drinking water and adding a decorative touch to your property. Originally, fountains only served a practical purpose. Residents of cities, townships and small towns used them as a source of drinking water and a place to wash, which meant that fountains needed to be connected to nearby aqueduct or spring. Up to the late 19th century, water fountains had to be near an aqueduct or reservoir and higher than the fountain so that gravity could make the water move down or jet high into the air. Fountains were an optimal source of water, and also served to adorn living areas and celebrate the designer. Bronze or stone masks of animals and heroes were commonly seen on Roman fountains. During the Middle Ages, Muslim and Moorish garden designers included fountains in their designs to mimic the gardens of paradise. The fountains seen in the Gardens of Versailles were meant 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 glorify the Popes who commissioned them as well as to mark the spot where the restored Roman aqueducts entered the city.
Since indoor plumbing became the standard of the day for clean, drinking water, by the end of the 19th century urban fountains were no longer needed for this purpose and they became purely decorative. Gravity was replaced by mechanical pumps in order to enable fountains to bring in clean water and allow for beautiful water displays.
Nowadays, fountains decorate public areas and are used to pay tribute to individuals or events and fill recreational and entertainment needs.