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Traipsing through pictures of the fountains of the world is one of the pure joys of doing this blog. I feel fortunate that I can do this in a serious manner – ha ha – and get all this fun at the same time. I have literally laughed out loud at some of these anarchistic and plain hilarious efforts, all deviously designed and enacted by some extremely admirable people.

The Stravinsky Fountain at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, is a splendid example of this zany serendipity and pleasurable art work, stationed as it is outside a Music Centre.

(left click any image to enlarge)

The fun  doesn’t stop as this fountain continues to draw smiling visitors, freshly awed by the audacity of creativity. The metal kinetic sculptures are by Jean Tinguley. The big colorfull resin sculptures were by his wife – Niki De Saint Phalle. As a civic collecting place, many vendors and small portable shoppes parade by daily, servicing the many curious tourists and locals alike. It has become, in short, something more than was even intended.

The funny figures depicted at the Stravinsky Fountain are all taken from his Music.

Moving along, it has been sobering to realize how intensely involved so many municipalities are in providing such wonders for its citizens and visitors. Lima, Peru has outdone themselves, for example, with a complete Water Park consisting of 12 different fountains, all lit up magnificently at night and gloriously wet during the day to the thrill of children. Check out the night time, versus daytime look of this edifice:

Evenings:

They extend the wonders of light behavior and the water which catches it in wonderfully large and modern works as well:

Stunning stuff -

Like a palette for a painter, lighting adds a dimension which nothing on Earth can replicate, as the water catches and carries the rays of refracted light like a busy and industrious Aquarius.

There are lessons here as well for all of us average homeowners. What a tiny bit of lighting can do for a small fountain or water feature can be off the charts beneficial. Such lighting can determine the parameters of an outdoor room with the simple usage of up lighting the periphery, then using “hotter” lighting elements around features we wish to expose more.

With an appreciative “nod of the head” to Bodew.com – a wonderful blog dealing with landscape design, I present a picture from their fabulously interesting website as an example of the purest Potential of landscape lighting:

This is truly ‘releasing a potential’ in a grove of giant Bamboo.

But one more final look at some hilarity:

Want a little spritz?

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This Pond And Fountain World blogger wants to take you on a journey to Rome and a visit to the famous Trevi Fountain.

Historically, all of the Roman aqueducts ended at a fountain of some sort. The aqueduct supplying Trevi runs nearly 22 miles in  meandering pattern, providing its original role as a water source for a huge Roman population. First erected in 19 BC, this ancient aqueduct supplied Rome for over 400 years. It was destroyed and separated in a siege by the Goths in the mid 5th Century. Rome was then stuck getting water from wells or the Tiber, which, unfortunately, also served as a sewer.

Later – much later indeed – about the time of The Renaissance, 1453, Pope Nicholas V arranged to repair the ancient aqueduct and made a large pool to catch the water at its end – the current site of this fountain. It was simply designed at the time, welcoming the arrival of water in modest fashion.

Pope Urban VIII proposed a competition among designers to install something more grandiose and it was hot. The original contract was awarded to Allessandro Galilei, but Romans put up a fuss since he was one of those damnedable Florentines. The Pope relented and awarded the contract to Nicola Salvi.  Work began in 1732, and the fountain was completed in 1762, long after Clement’s death, when Pietro Bracci’s Oceanus (god of all water) was set in the central niche.

Restoration work was undergone in 1998, providing recirculating pumps and lighting, modernizing the engineering. Yet, the same sculptures and magnificence pertain to this breath-taking bit of human engineering.

(click below to enlarge)

The building behind is the Pallazzo Poli and the connections of the gigantic columns, the facade and the emerging artwork are of one piece, constructed to be seen as one. Pretty amazing stuff. (click to enlarge)

Such a marvelous fountain is justifiably famous. Indeed, this may be the single most famous fountain in the world. The movie “Three Coins in a Fountain” featured this coin-cluttered fountain.

I have included an interesting video with an interesting tune by David Byrne to accompany the gorgeous live sounds and crowds who regularly flock to this amazing art work. Enjoy

Pond And Fountain World delights in presenting these journeys to fountains strewn throughout the world. We hope we make the notion of fountains less intimidating to those who consider owning their own. The sheer spectacle of world class fountains such as this one show us that humans love a fountain.
Click here to find out more about what is available and newest at our home page.

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