EAU

With the growth of modern supply systems, the social purpose of water has slowly disappeared. Public fountains and wash houses were places of meeting and exchange that played an essential role in the life of a city or a village. Water was at hand in the street, it created a rhythm to the day, it manifested out the routes of the people.

Grève du personnel de la Compagnie des Eaux à Pantin : les ménagères font la queue à une fontaine publique : [photographie de presse] / Agence Meurisse - 1919 http://gallica.bnf.fr

Drinking fountain at College Street and Spadina Avenue, City of Toronto Archives, Fonds 200, Series 376, File 2, Item 49, April 26, 1899

Nowadays, water is far more available but it mostly travels along hidden pathways, it flows behind the walls, it moves smoothly under our feet and only makes uncommon appearances in public. If the walls and the soil were transparent, if they exposed only the pipes of the water system, we would stand before a giddy complex structure, one that trembles with water rushing in all direction.

The fountains dispersed in our cities allow us to break from our daily routines, fountains which compel us today to play with water. As summer approaches, I am encouraging everyone in the city to reconnect with our urban water features, and let themselves be absorbed by the pleasure of water.

Water, like the air, is obviously blue. But the colour only can be apparent when there is a confident thickness of the parts.

Fountains modify the colour of water by playing with the qualities of the walls and sinks, the depths of the fountain, and the angles of observation. The mirror effect, which is obtained on broader planes of waters, is also a result of the angle from which the water is sighted and the colour of the basin’s bottom. The final water colour is dependent upon a combination of features.

petits liens vers l'histoire...

Petite histoire des plus belles fontaines parisiennes

Taylor drinking fountains

Toronto fountains

Les bateaux lavoirs de Paris