Poetic water images in architecture

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This essay identifies and examines uses of water imagery in architecture worldwide and through centuries. Architects have introduced imagery in their architectural design since antiquity. This analysis illuminates how the intensive interaction with nature, in this case with water, corresponds to an ever lasting spirit. As Thales of Milet declared: "Water is the source of all things" [1]. This element plays a unique role in the interaction of natural forces. During the Renaissance and particularly during the Baroque age resistance to social alienation was expressed in an abundance of ornamentation; the water foliage and wave formations on the colonnaded capital are analogous to the multitude of water images at times used extensively in lyricism. The water with its varying states of aggregation and mobility inspired many architects to spectacular designs.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationEco-architecture : Harmonisation between Architecture and Nature
EditorsGeoffrey Broadbent , C. A. Brebbia
Number of pages10
PublisherWIT Press
Publication date2006
Pages143-152
ISBN (print)184564171X, 9781845641719
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2006
EventInternational Conference on Harmonisation Between Architecture and Nature - Eco Architecture 2006 - Ashurst, United Kingdom
Duration: 14.06.200616.06.2006
Conference number: 1

DOI