Snapshot, Melbourne

Josef Hochgurtel's Exhibition Fountain of 1880, Exhibition Gardens, Carlton, Monday 21st June, 1:55pm.

It makes my heart happy to see some fountains on around Melbourne. It has always seemed to me that during a drought a fountain becomes more necessary rather than less. As long as they have sensible hydraulics that don't waste water a fountain in a dry land becomes a display of something precious and hard earned. Some of the greatest fountains have been designed in conditions not of abundance of water but the exact opposite.

The water theatre at the Villa Aldobrandini.



At the time it was built a good old fashioned neighbour war was raging between the various landholders on the hills, water was scarce and in the dead of night pipes would be re-routed, statuary would be destroyed in revenge and so on. So the theatre was, amongst other things, symbolic of Cardinal Aldobrandini's victory in this water war.