MAYBE BECAUSE WATER ROUSES IN US A PRIMORDIAL INSTINCT THAT TAKES US BACK TO THE ORIGIN OF LIFE, FOUNTAINS ARE ABLE TO SHARE AND CONVEY THEIR ENERGY TO ANYONE WHO LOOKS AT THEM, WHO LISTENS TO THEM, WHO TOUCHES THEM OR WHO SAVOURS THEM. BEING SYMBOLS OF LIFE AND REGENERATION, THEY HAVE ALWAYS REPRESENTED THE GENEROSITY OF SOME GOD OR OF SOME PERSON AND HAVE INDICATED AFFLUENCE AND ABUNDANCE.
THEIR USE AND THEIR FUNCTION HAVE VARIED IN TIME WITH THE ADVANCEMENT OF TECHNOLOGICAL AND SOCIAL PROGRESS EXPRESSED BY CULTURES THAT HAVE COMPARED THEMSELVES BY THEM; FOR THIS REASON FOUNTAINS HAVE EXALTED OR FAVOURED THE NUMEROUS CHARACTERISTICS OF WATER AND HAVE BEEN USED AS FUNDAMENTAL SYMBOLS OR AS SIMPLE DECORATIVE ELEMENTS.
THE ANTIQUE ORIENTAL GARDENS, CONCEIVED AS PERFECT HARMONY BETWEEN MAN AND THE WORLD, HAD TO SPEAK ABOVE ALL TO THE FIVE HUMAN SENSES: TO MAN’S EYE, BY MEANS OF ARCHITECTONIC ORDER AND THE NATURAL BEAUTY OF THE PLANTS AND FLOWERS; TO MAN’S NOSE BY MEANS OF THE PERFUME OF THE FLOWERS; TO MAN’S TASTE, BY MEANS OF THE FRUIT; TO MAN’S TOUCH BY MEANS OF THE BLOWING OF THE WIND; TO MAN’S SENSE OF HEARING, LASTLY, BY MEANS OF THE MURMURING OF THE WATER. WATER WAS THE ORIENTAL GARDEN’S MUSIC. THE PECULIAR CLIMATIC CONDITIONS MADE EVERYONE AWARE OF THE ESSENTIALITY OF WATER WHICH, FELT LIKE AN IMMORTAL FORCE AND GIVER OF LIFE, BECAME THE OBJECT OF RELIGIOUS VENERATION. INGENIOUS WATER DIVERSIONS WERE PRACTISED BY THE POPULATIONS OF THE MIDDLE EAST LONG BEFORE THE ANTIQUE GREEKS, WHO IN FACT DID NOT DEVELOP THE ACQUIRED EXPERIENCES AND TO WHOM THE CONCEPT OF UNITY BETWEEN ONE’S HOUSE AND ONE’S GARDEN WAS UNKNOWN.
ONLY DURING THE ROMAN EMPIRE PERIOD, WHICH WITH ITS ORIENTAL PROVINCES RE-ESTABLISHED TIES WITH THE EAST, THE ART OF GARDENING MADE ITS ENTRY INTO EUROPE, AS THE SPLENDOUR OF THE ROMAN HYDRAULIC ENGINEERING GIVES EVIDENCE, BY THE RUINS OF VILLA ADRIANA AND BY THE EXCAVATIONS AND FRESCOS OF HERCULANEUM AND POMPEII.
AFTER THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, WE MUST AWAIT SPAIN OF THE MOORS AND THE CRUSADES TO ONCE AGAIN SEE THE THRIVING OF THE ORIENTAL REPERTOIRE: IN THE MIDDLE OF THAT IMMENSE HEAT, THE SUPERB ARCHWAYS AND THE SHADOWY YARDS OF ALHAMBARA OF GRANATA, A COOL OASIS REMAINS, THE REPRESENTATION OF WHAT IS, IN THE IMAGINATION OF A DESERT POPULATION, THE CONCEPT OF PARADISE.
IN THE MEDIEVAL TIMES MANY CLOISTERS HAD ARTISTIC FOUNTAINS, THAT SYMBOLIZED THE “LIVING WATER” OF CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE.
EVEN BOCCACCIO CONSIDERED FOUNTAINS A NATURAL ORNAMENT OF THE GARDEN, A SYMBOL OF VITAL YOUTHFUL FORCE.
WATER POSSESSES NUMEROUS EXPRESSIVE POSSIBILITIES: IT CAN EVOKE QUIETNESS WITH STAGNANT WATER PONDS, OR IT CAN EMBODY AN INDOMITABLE AND DEAFENING FORCE, IT CAN ASCEND UPWARDS AND PRECIPITATE DOWNWARDS AS A WATERFALL, BUT IT CAN ALSO BE AN AGILE AND SPARKLING GUSH AS IN THE ENTERTAINING WATER GAMES THAT WERE IN STYLE IN THE 1600’S AND THAT, THANKS TO SOPHISTICATED MECHANISMS, SPURTED WATER AT THE UNAWARE VISITOR.
NORTHERN EUROPE HAD TO AWAIT THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE GRAND RESIDENCES OF THE XVII CENTURY TO SEE SOMETHING COMPARABLE TO THE USE THAT HAD BEEN MADE OF WATER AT ALHAMBARA CENTURIES BEFORE. WITH THE COMING OF LOUIS XIV AND OF HIS ARCHITECT-GARDENER ANDRÉ LE NÒTRE, WATER WAS USED IN EVERY POSSIBLE WAY WITH THE HELP OF TALENTED SCULPTORS AND EQUALLY ABLE HYDRAULIC ENGINEERS.
IN THE ROMANTIC GARDEN, WATER WAS INTRODUCED AVOIDING ANY APPARENT INTERVENTION BY MAN, LETTING IT FLOW AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE INTO THE NATURAL WATER COURSES, TRANSFORMING SPRINGS TO CREATE SINUOUS BROOKS THAT FINISHED THEIR COURSE INTO SMALL LAKES, MAYBE EVEN INSIDE CAVES.
THE VICTORIAN GARDENERS WERE THE FIRST TO EXPERIMENT A FORMAL USE OF WATER IN STRUCTURES OF SMALL DIMENSIONS; AND FOUNTAINS AND BASINS RETURNED TO BEAUTIFY THE CITY GARDENS; MANY OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL FOUNTAINS OF THE VICTORIAN PERIOD WERE IN CAST IRON.
THE NATURAL USE OF WATER IN ENVIRONMENTAL ARRANGEMENTS AND IN PARTICULAR IN THOSE OF THE URBAN SCENE HAS CHARACTERIZED THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE AMERICAN LANDSCAPE OF THE LAST DECADES, ESPECIALLY FROM THE ‘70S ON, THANKS TO THE WORK OF THE LANDSCAPER LAWRENCE HALPRIN AND TO OTHERS, WHO WITH A SPECIALIZED TECHNOLOGY MAKE USE OF ENERGETIC PUMPING SYSTEMS, OF REFINED CONTROL SYSTEMS AND ELECTRONIC PROGRAMMING ABLE TO PRODUCE SPECIAL EFFECTS.