A Brief History of Early Outdoor Water Features
A Brief History of Early Outdoor Water Features
As originally conceived, fountains were designed to be functional, directing water from creeks or reservoirs to the inhabitants of cities and villages, where the water could be utilized for cooking, washing, and drinking. To make water flow through a fountain until the later part of the 1800’s, and create a jet of water, required gravity and a water source such as a creek or reservoir, situated higher than the fountain. Striking and spectacular, large water fountains have been crafted as memorials in many societies. Simple in style, the first water fountains did not look much like present fountains. Uncomplicated stone basins created from local rock were the first fountains, used for religious ceremonies and drinking water. 2,000 B.C. is when the earliest identified stone fountain basins were used. The spray of water appearing from small jets was pushed by gravity, the lone power source designers had in those days. Positioned near aqueducts or springs, the functional public water fountains provided the local population with fresh drinking water. Fountains with flowery decoration started to show up in Rome in approx. 6 BC, usually gods and wildlife, made with stone or copper-base alloy. Water for the community fountains of Rome was brought to the city via a intricate system of water aqueducts.
Contemporary Garden Decoration: Fountains and their Roots
Contemporary Garden Decoration: Fountains and their Roots A fountain, an amazing piece of engineering, not only supplies drinking water as it pours into a basin, it can also launch water high into the air for a noteworthy effect.
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 nearby. 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. Serving as an element of decoration and celebration, fountains also supplied clean, fresh drinking water. Animals or heroes made of bronze or stone masks were often utilized by Romans to decorate their fountains. During the Middle Ages, Muslim and Moorish garden planners incorporated fountains to create smaller depictions of the gardens of paradise. To demonstrate his dominance over nature, French King Louis XIV included fountains in the Garden of Versailles. To mark the entryway of the restored Roman aqueducts, the Popes of the 17th and 18th centuries commissioned the construction of baroque style fountains in the spot where the aqueducts arrived in the city of Rome
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 ornamental. The introduction of unique water effects and the recycling of water were two things made possible by replacing gravity with mechanical pumps.
Modern fountains are used to embellish community spaces, honor individuals or events, and enrich recreational and entertainment events.