Published on February 09, 2025

We build fountains—those vibrant symbols of life and physical embodiments of beauty—to mark and celebrate our favored places. This act is an honor to all, and like listening to music, it is understood on an intuitive level. We also build fountains to commemorate life. Water is the basis for, and the symbol of, life. Many fountains are articulated to recognize some person, institution, or idea. Those particular recognitions are fused with water’s deeper symbolism to convey everlastingness to the identities being celebrated.

Fountain Safari places on the shelf a sharply focused, comprehensive, useful, entertaining, and hopefully lasting survey aimed to provide a panoramic portrait of the fountain class of artistic endeavor. The material attends especially to the aesthetics of water expression by examining numerous esteemed examples. In the process, a sketch is roughed out of the evolution of fountains over some two millennia and across several cultures. Ultimately, the work attempts to deepen the understanding and appreciation of water features by identifying and clarifying their most essential aesthetic qualities.

Fountain Safari is written for design professionals, architects, landscape architects, urban designers, planners, students of the arts or the built environment—and everyone else interested in the engaging, one-of-a-kind subject of fountains.