Water Fountain "cold knowledge": drinking water made a thousand years ago, and Leonardo da Vinci "sold" in Renaissance
Fountain is not the result of modern civilization. It has developed for thousands of years and formed rich and diverse characteristics with different regional cultures. Nowadays, fountains are no longer the place where people draw water, but develop into urban landscapes and landmarks.
1. It used to be a water intake for urban residents
"Fountain" used to be a natural landscape, now it mainly refers to the sprinkler with use or landscape function which is designed and constructed manually. When you travel to Europe, you will find many cities have various fountains. Moreover, in European culture, fountains have a high status, which is not available in other cultures. For example, in the world cultural heritage, the famous Versailles Palace, there are more than 1400 fountains in the back garden.
Why are the fountains "abundant" in Europe? According to the research of historians, although today's fountains are mostly part of landscape architecture, before the emergence of industrial civilization, fountains were not only a kind of decoration, but the only way to provide reliable fresh water stably, which was the main drinking water source of ancient European residents, so they played an important role in life. Moreover, it was first used for sacrifice, prayer and memorial activities, which combined to make the fountain become an important part of European architectural history. It can be said that the fountain is the representative of "public life" in Europe and the symbol of urban public space.
In ancient times, where there were fountains, it also showed that the area was prosperous and powerful. Because if there is no reliable and lasting water source in the city, no tribe can survive for a long time, so the natural spring or exposed underground river becomes the first choice for people.
Most of the earliest human groups gathered near the river bank, and with the increase of population, they had to move to the vast plain area. At this time, they must first learn how to transfer and control the flow of water to the hinterland of the settlement.
In ancient times, the best water diversion system was ditch. The world's first ditch discovered by archaeologists is an underground pipeline in ancient Persia more than 6000 years ago, which is used to lead water to low-lying villages. Around 2000 BC, Mesopotamians learned to build weirs to divert water from ditches. At the same time, the ancient Greeks used stone trenches and clay pipes to form a labyrinth like pipeline system, which led rainwater into the reservoir and replenished the nearby groundwater reserves.
According to the current research, the Etruscans in the middle of Italy were the first to build fountains in their residences. They built small fountains to take water locally, which let the fountains gush out from the stone holes continuously. Moreover, they also invented the urban drainage system, which has a place in the history of human civilization.
In the thousands of years of development, the ancients gradually improved the technology of building canals, dams and canals. The earliest large-scale man-made fountains began in ancient Rome, and there were 1200 fountains in the fourth century A.D.
Ancient fountains were formed by the reconstruction of existing water sources. Different from other ancient civilizations developed along the river, the Romans did not passively cater to the terrain, but creatively built elevated channels. The first one was built in 312 B.C., with a total length of about 15 kilometers. It can bring nearby water sources into the city. In the following centuries, more than a dozen similar elevated canals were built near Rome, ranging in length from tens of kilometers to tens of kilometers.
Why does this kind of urban water delivery system appear? Experts believe that Rome, known as the "city of seven hills", is built on seven hills in the plain of the lower reaches of the Tiber River. Its water source mainly depends on nearby springs, lakes and rivers, which makes it inconvenient to transport water. With the increase of water demand of the population, the water stored around the city must be sent to Rome and stored in the elevated water tank in the city. In the city, there are pipes made of stone, wood, clay, leather and metal materials, through which water is transported to fountains. The water pressure in these ditches comes from gravity, and the flow intensity depends on the drop at both ends of the pipe. The water in the elevated water tank and channel generates high-pressure water flow through the slope, which can create a fountain effect in a lower place. The open space for people to queue for water forms a square with fountain as the theme. Up to now, more than 3000 fountains, large and small, are still preserved in the Roman city, and the ancient water diversion pipeline remains.
2 fountains through ups and downs
Unfortunately, in the middle ages, with the continuous wars in Europe, the public water delivery system almost disappeared. Most of the public fountains were abandoned and only appeared in literary works or private gardens.
During the Renaissance, Europe began to reconstruct the fountain as a public building, mainly as sculpture and decoration. In this period, the fountain was mostly combined with statues, columns, pools and other landscapes, such as the "Baiquan footpath" of the Italian villa ISTE, the fountain channel of lenter and the "owl and bird" fountain of the estates of este. Especially in Rome, people pay more attention to the decoration function of articles than the practical function. It's fashionable to put fountains in buildings. Even Leonardo da Vinci has been involved in the design of fountains. In this atmosphere, Rome has become the famous "fountain capital". At present, a large number of beautiful fountains in the streets of Rome were mainly built in the 15th to 18th century.
From the 17th to 18th century, fountains were very popular in Europe, such as the sun god fountains in France and the waterfall fountains in Germany. The European love of fountains is accompanied by cultural influence. Throughout Europe, there are many fountains with the theme of Neptune. In Italy alone, there are six so-called "Neptune fountains".
In fact, in the early days of the industrial revolution, the rapidly expanding big cities also expanded new water supply channels for the new population. At the end of the 18th century, fresh water in London was manually drawn from the Thames by three water companies and then transported to residential areas. But this way is very easy to pollute the water quality, and several outbreaks of large-scale infectious diseases. After learning the lessons, the city government of London re opened the old way of fountain water supply. Hundreds of roadside fountains were built in densely populated areas. The water flow came from the underground drinking water pipes and eventually led to the Thames River. These water fountains are very popular. On the day the first fountain was put into use, nearly 10000 people came to take water. Within five years after 1860, London invested heavily in the construction of the earliest sewage drainage system in the history of urban development. At that time, there was no idea of sewage treatment, so the urban sewage was discharged into the underground drainage pipe and finally into a piece of waste land.
Until later, the tap water system gradually matured and the water supply function of fountains weakened. Modern fountains are mainly built to provide decoration in public places and occasionally cool the ground.
3. Electric power changed the original intention of the fountain
After the popularization of electric power, the electric pump has completely changed the original "mission" of the fountain.
The fountain with the electric pump is like a runaway horse. A large number of water bodies can be sprayed out. The spray height and modeling design have more room. Since then, people's attention has gradually shifted to the height and shape of the fountain, rather than the drinking water site.
After the electric revolution, designers began to try to add electric lighting to the fountain waterscape, adding a touch of light to the night. In 1893, at the World Expo in Chicago, designers showed off the first electric fountain, the Columbus Memorial Fountain. In the middle of the fountain is carved into the shape of a ship. Around the huge pool are statues of mermaids and elves. There are 300 geysers on the side of the ship. The water column is up to 50 meters. It's powered by four huge electric pumps. At night, colorful lights flash in the water column, and a rainbow appears in the water mist. Columbus Memorial Fountain is the first design to apply color lighting to fountains, filling the gap of night view. This change caters to the new life style of people in the industrial era, and the fountain design has gradually become a powerful means of urban public space design.
With the progress of the times, the continuous development of information industrialization and the rise of music fountain, it is not only a feast of light and shadow vision, but also a great satisfaction of hearing. In 1930, a German first proposed the concept of music fountain, but only built small fountains in front of department stores and restaurants. Until 1952, at the West Berlin industrial exhibition, an American saw the performance of the music fountain and brought it back to the New York Radio Music Hall. A year later, the music fountain made its debut in the United States and achieved great success. Since then, the music fountain has gone to the world.
Simply put, music fountain is to use playing or live playing music as control signals. The control equipment changes nozzle, electric pump and light according to the changes of these signals. A good music fountain will become an influential scenic spot or landmark in the city. "Dancing fountains" in Japan and "Waltz Dance fountains" in the United States can dance with the melody of music under the illumination of color lights; Canberra Griffin Lake fountains in Australia, Dubai water fountains, Seattle Park fountains, etc., together with "Blue Rhapsody" and "Symphony", etc., have formed a very infectious fountain landscape.
But beauty is beauty. Some experts also suggest that musical fountains that rely entirely on electricity to produce waterscape effects are products of high energy consumption, water consumption and large land occupation. Some people have calculated that in addition to the millions of Yuan spent on the main works when they were built, 1000 kilowatt hours of electricity will be consumed every half hour after opening up. For example, the happy fountain in Calcutta, a music fountain in Maidan park built by Calcutta power supply company in 1991, was criticized and denounced shortly after it was built. The reason is that the Indian city is in chaos due to power rationing, so many poor people can't show it, let alone play, and the power supply company dare to waste it, so the fountain was quickly closed and It's abandoned. It wasn't until 2012 that the dancing fountain reopened.
4. The earliest artificial fountain method in China
In the history of China, the most important form of water source is the exploitation of groundwater. Sometimes, water storage facilities, such as Huaqing pool, are built directly near mountain springs. It's rare to see a fountain from a long way to the city, so the history of the fountain is shorter than that of the West.
The earliest artificial fountains in China were built in front of the western buildings in Yuanmingyuan from the 12th to the 24th year of Qianlong's reign. They are respectively called "harmonic interest", "Dashuifa" and "Haiyantang". The designers are French missionary Jiang Youren and Italian missionary Lang shining. The architectural form is Baroque style in the late Renaissance of Europe, but there are still a lot of traditional Chinese methods in the garden and architectural decoration.
Xiqiqu is the first building built in the autumn of the 16th year of Qianlong's reign. Its main body is three floors. There is a large-scale Begonia shaped water fountain in the south of the building. There is a fountain composed of copper goose, copper sheep and Western turning tail stone fish. On the left and right sides of the building, the octagonal hall is the place where Chinese and western music is played.
Dashuifa is the most spectacular fountain in the Western Tower. The building is shaped like a niche, which is similar to a door opening. There is a large lion's head under the water, forming a seven layer water curtain. There is an elliptical chrysanthemum spray pool at the front and bottom. In the center of the pool, there is a copper sika deer that sprays water eight times from the antlers. On both sides, there are ten copper dogs that spray water from the mouth, direct on the deer's body, splashing layers of spray. Commonly known as "ten dogs chasing deer". In front of the big water method, there is a huge water spray tower on the left and right. The tower is square and has 13 floors. The top spouts water. There are 88 copper pipes around the tower, which can spray water together. It is said that if all the fountains are opened, they will be like flash floods. The spectacular degree can be imagined.
Haiyan hall is composed of the main building and the later I-shaped water storage building. It is the largest European style garden landscape in the Yuanmingyuan Garden. It was built in the 24th year of Qianlong. There are cascading water spouts on the left and right of Haiyan hall. Under the steps is a large water fountain. The bronze statues of the twelve Chinese zodiac animals are arranged in an "eight" shape on the left and right of the fountain. Every day and night at 12 hours, by the twelve zodiac in turn water spray, commonly known as "water clock.". The back building of Haiyan hall is a "I" shaped platform building. There are small fountains in the South and north of the building. It is also a water supply building for nearby fountains. The East and West ends of the building are water truck rooms for water lifting. The middle part is built into a high platform with bricks and stones, on which there is a water storage pool to supply water for surrounding fountains. Tin plate shall be used around the water storage tank to prevent
