The "Bosquet des
Rocailles" cascade of the Chateau de Versailles, France in June
1998.
In decorative
architecture, waterfalls and cascades provide a focal point as well
as sounds generated by cascading waters. Although a fountain is
originally a spring of water issuing from the earth, the public
fountain is a source of public water in cities. The water staircase
design contributes to a lot of splashing and white waters, and it is
well adapted to a steep topography: e.g., La Grande Cascade de
Saint-Cloud on the hill slope of St Cloud overlooking Paris and the
Seine river, the water staircase at Château du Touvet on the slopes
of the Chartreuse mountains.
A superb example was
the "Bosquet des Rocailles" cascade, also called "Bosquet de la
Salle de Bal" cascade, at the Chateau de Versailles, France.
Completed in 1683, it was designed by J. MANSART to operate as a
nappe flow. There are a total of 5 fountains with 8 steps, 8
fountains with 7 steps and 4 fountains with 4 steps. All the steps
are pooled. The "Bosquet des Rocailles" cascade was designed as a
theater. The musicians were placed at the top of the cascades while
the actors played in the center stage, at the foot of the cascade,
and in front the King Louis XIV.
The video shows the
operation of the "Bosquet des Rocailles" cascade, Chateau de
Versailles on 20 June 1998. The video presents the start of the
waters and the operation of the stepped cascades and water jets.
References
[1] CHANSON, H. (1998). "Le
Développement Historique des Cascades et Fontaines en Gradins." ('Historical
Development of Stepped Cascades and Fountains.') Jl La Houille
Blanche, No. 7/8, pp. 76-84 (ISSN 0018-6368) (in French). {http://eprint.uq.edu.au/archive/00002638/}
[2] CHANSON, H. (2001). "The
Hydraulics of Stepped Chutes and Spillways." Balkema, Lisse, The
Netherlands, 418 pages (ISBN 90 5809 352 2). {http://www.uq.edu.au/~e2hchans/reprints/book4.htm}
