Rehabilitation
of the fountain
in the Main Square
The fountain is located in the southwestern part of the square.
It consists of 2 vessels with a prismatic volume, an upper one, 1.15 m high and 9 m long and 3 wide, raised above the other, lower, 70 cm high and 4 m wide by 6 m wide. length.
Both basins were filled with water and a 90 cm wide stainless steel gutter poured the water in a sheet form onto the lower basin.
After the fountain stopped working, both basins were filled, rendering the whole unusable, and finally the installation was covered with a layer of false green plastic grass, including the gutter element.
Due to the fact that an adequate hydraulic installation was not planned at the time, the fountain was practically impossible to manage and keep in operation.
In addition, from the architectural point of view, it presents obvious errors that make it impossible to recover, mainly the fact that it is constituted in 2 vessels, highlighted in the middle of the empty space of the square, and the upper one presents an excessive height that prevents its appreciation and its visual integration, and therefore the aesthetic functionality of the installation.
The purpose of the proposal is the rehabilitation and commissioning of the fountain, for which, after studying the possible alternatives, it has been decided to modify the original design, removing its function as a glass from the upper body of the installation, turning it into a raised parterre landscaped, from which the water will fall towards the lower glass, now converted into the only glass of the fountain, so that, applying the maxim that less is more, now the water element of the whole shines and acquires full meaning and prominence, and In addition, it is given a compositional purpose by integrating it into a landscaped element, with which it exchanges roles and functionalities.
However, this still posed a serious problem of functionality and visual interaction with the whole, as the upper body continued to be at an excessive height above the pavement.
In this way, we have chosen to modify it by giving it a downward slope from the contact edge with the lower glass to the opposite side, so that it now falls on the paving of the square, and in this way it is aesthetically and visually integrated into the environmentcand assume functionalities of interaction with the citizens, who will be able to use its edge, 35 cm above the paving, as a natural bench, refreshed by the carpet meadow that will cover the attractive parterre thus generated.
To house the water jets that are going to constitute the new fountain, we are going to integrate some large quarry limestone elements into the meadow, semi-suspended over the sheet of water in the pool, from which 3 thick water jets will fall into arc, generating a pleasant and refreshing sound. This compositional resource evokes the traditional fountains of rural and mountain towns, in which it is common to find stone constructions from which the water jets of the traditional public sinks, troughs and ornamental fountains emerge.
Four similar rocks, prismatic in shape and smaller in volume, will be embedded in the carpet meadow, combining naturally with the vegetation, in a garden composition that evokes the mountain landscapes that surround the town, and at the same time offer seating and solace to the public space users. Another 2 units are inserted into the water in the pool, emerging on its surface to visually revitalize the aquatic part and compositionally integrate water and garden, the 2 elements that now make up the installation.