The Origins Of Fountains
The Origins Of Fountains 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 an extraordinary effect. Originally, fountains only served a functional purpose. Water fountains were linked to a spring or aqueduct to supply potable water as well as bathing water for cities, townships and villages. Until the late 19th, century most water fountains operated using the force of gravity to allow water to flow or jet into the air, therefore, they needed a source of water such as a reservoir or aqueduct located higher than the fountain. Fountains were an optimal source of water, and also served to decorate living areas and memorialize the designer. The main materials used by the Romans to build their fountains were bronze or stone masks, mostly illustrating animals or heroes. Throughout the Middle Ages, Muslim and Moorish garden planners included fountains to create mini depictions of the gardens of paradise. The fountains seen in the Gardens of Versailles were supposed 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.
Urban fountains made at the end of the nineteenth served only as decorative and celebratory adornments since indoor plumbing provided the necessary drinking water. The creation of special water effects and the recycling of water were two things made possible by swapping gravity with mechanical pumps.
Embellishing city parks, honoring people or events and entertaining, are some of the purposes of modern-day fountains.
Overview of Hydrostatics
Overview of Hydrostatics
When in equilibrium, liquid applies energy to its container or any other material it comes in contact with. The force used falls into one of two categories: external force or hydrostatic energy. The pressure applied by the liquid against a level wall is even at each point where it makes contact with the wall. Liquid in equilibrium will employ vertical pressure at every point of an object’s exterior when that subject is fully submerged in the liquid. This is also recognized as buoyancy or the Archimedes’ principle. When hydrostatic force is exerted on an area of liquid, this becomes hydrostatic pressure. These principles are applied to the containers used by plumbing, wells, and fountains.
The Root of Contemporary Outdoor Wall Fountains
The Root of Contemporary Outdoor Wall Fountains The translation of hundreds of ancient Greek texts into Latin was commissioned by the learned Pope Nicholas V who led the Church in Rome from 1397 until 1455. Beautifying Rome and making it the worthy capital of the Christian world was at the core of his ambitions. At the bidding of the Pope, the Aqua Vergine, a damaged aqueduct which had transported clean drinking water into Rome from eight miles away, was restored starting in 1453. The ancient Roman custom of building an imposing commemorative fountain at the point where an aqueduct arrived, also known as a mostra, was restored by Nicholas V.
At the bidding of the Pope, architect Leon Battista Alberti undertook the construction of a wall fountain in the place where we now find the Trevi Fountain. The water which eventually provided the Trevi Fountain as well as the famed baroque fountains in the Piazza del Popolo and Piazza Navona came from the modified aqueduct which he had renovated.