In recent years, the application technology of fountain water features has developed rapidly, and many technologies have been widely applied in practice. Water art landscapes have gradually formed a relatively independent engineering branch, but there is still a lack of systematic guiding theories in engineering design practice.
Fountain water art landscapes can be broadly divided into two categories:
The first is to utilize terrain or civil engineering structures to imitate natural water landscapes, such as streams, waterfalls, artificial lakes, fish ponds, springs, and cascades. These have been widely applied in traditional gardens in China.
The second relies entirely on fountain equipment for landscaping. Various types of fountains, such as large water shows, musical fountains, laser water curtain movies, programmable fountains, dry fountains, and interactive fountains. This type of water feature has only been widely applied in the architectural field in recent years, but its development speed is very fast.
Various water feature projects generally consist of the following aspects: civil engineering pool body, nozzle equipment system, pipeline valve system, power water pump system, lighting system, etc.
For larger water bodies or places with high water quality requirements, a water quality treatment system must also be included.
A good water feature design is inevitably a product of the perfect combination of the above professional systems based on excellent artistic effect design. The key points of its design are as follows:
In the overall design of water features, one should first analyze the basic requirements of the environmental atmosphere, then analyze various forms of water features, list different combination schemes, and draw effect diagrams to select the best.
Water feature forms include still water, flowing water, falling water, and spraying water, which can derive various colorful variations, especially due to the development of nozzle technology, where the spraying posture can change dramatically. With these materials, and through the artistic design of professionals, beautiful water art landscapes can be sketched out.
In addition, different landscape forms are suitable for different application scenarios. For example, musical fountains are generally suitable for gathering places such as squares. They provide a visual and auditory aesthetic through the organic combination of music, water shapes, and lighting; at the same time, the fountain integrates with the square, forming part of the architecture. In residential areas, streams are more suitable for design between buildings to reflect a tranquil and serene atmosphere, providing a gentle and relaxing visual enjoyment, thus creating a pleasant living and resting space.
The choice of nozzles in fountain design is very important. Various types of nozzles are widely used in water features to generate different water shapes.
In practical use, attention should be paid to the characteristics of various nozzles. Generally, water film nozzles have poor wind resistance and are not suitable for outdoor windy conditions. However, aspirating nozzles like cedar or spring are sensitive to water level changes, and when used, one must pay attention to water level changes and have corresponding measures to suppress waves in the pool design, such as setting longer overflow weirs or underwater wave barriers. However, it is also beneficial for the hydraulic phenomenon of wave resonance to create pulsating fountains, where regular wave movements cause the water flow to spray in a rhythmic high-low variation. Currently, there are also many high-tech fountain devices that can be used in water art landscapes. Bright fountains and jumping fountains have very smooth and stable jets, appearing like glass rods, accurately landing in the water receiving holes; jumping fountains can generate water jets of variable lengths under computer control; jumping ball fountains can spray smooth water balls of controllable sizes. They are all very interesting and unforgettable. The various high-tech nozzles and underwater moving machinery and control components used in large musical fountains are also diverse and widely selectable.
