flow Archives - Page 4 of 5

The art of the water wall has come a long way in recent years, observes inventor and manufacturer Tory R. Zweigle, and he isn’t shy in pointing out that his company, Acqua Werks of Corona, Calif., has led the charge. Building on the basic concept of water flowing down vertical surfaces, he has created hundreds of variations on that theme in both custom and mass-produced formats for hundreds of thousands of clients around the world.

Walls of Wonder

In a real sense, I want to build antiques: My goal in designing and shaping water walls has always been to develop systems of beauty that will be around and appreciated decades or even centuries from now. Not only are they built to the highest standards of quality - as are many antiques - but they're also meant to hold running water year after year. I don't know who created the first water wall, but my best guess is that they've been produced in one form or another since the late 1960s or early '70s. I became aware of them in the early '80s, at which point a number of craftspeople were making them from stone, copper, and bronze. Some of these products aspired to be works of sculptural art, but for the most part I thought that the medium's artistic potential hadn't been fully explored or expressed. My idea at the time was to expand the concept with respect to shapes, sizes, materials and styles. I also wanted to check into the possibilities of combining

Walls of Wonder

In a real sense, I want to build antiques: My goal in designing and shaping water walls has always been to develop systems of beauty that will be around and appreciated decades or even centuries from now. Not only are they built to the highest standards of quality - as are many antiques - but they're also meant to hold running water year after year. I don't know who created the first water wall, but my best guess is that they've been produced in one form or another since the late 1960s or early '70s. I became aware of them in the early '80s, at which point a number of craftspeople were making them from stone, copper, and bronze. Some of these products aspired to be works of sculptural art, but for the most part I thought that the medium's artistic potential hadn't been fully explored or expressed. My idea at the time was to expand the concept with respect to shapes, sizes, materials and styles. I also wanted to check into the possibilities of combining

The works of sculptor David Curt Morris often combine moving water with simple yet striking shapes in glass or metal. His meticulous compositions speak to observers by juxtaposing the kinetic potential of water against static structures – perhaps something as simple as water flowing over glass surfaces – to exploit what he calls the ‘colors’ of water in motion in a philosophy and a design approach that cuts to the essence of what watershaping is all about.

Water in Sculpture

I'm particularly interested in the behavior of water. To me as a sculptor, differing water flows and their textures are like "colors" to a painter: I find a color that holds meaning for me and then look for a structural form that can present it. To this extent, my artistic medium is the behavior of water and the means to make it behave. The sculpture in this case is water combined with a structure in steel, stone and equipment. The work is abstract: abstractions of feelings related to the movement of people, animals, fish and the flows of water in streams, rivers, rain - even the flow of numbers. As a result, I need metaphors and feelings to drive my creative expressions, then use water and other sculptural elements in much the same way a choreographer might use line and gesture to express a feeling or a composer will use chord changes and musical phrasing. My hope is that, in creating forms that are meaningful to me, other

Molten Inspiration: Rafe Affleck’s Platinum Standard Project

Watershaping advanced by leaps and bounds from 1999 through 2004 – a journey of artistry…

Contemporary artist Eric Orr and his protégé, Sean So, both use the flow of water to lend texture and bring distinction to basic, geometric forms. For them, these small flows embody ‘transformation,’ which stands as the ideological core of the Light and Space Movement they both represent. Here, So explains the tradition and creative essence of the movement and brings it into perspective as part of today’s commercial waterfeature market.

Light, Space and Water

The Light and Space Movement first emerged in the beachfront community of Venice, Calif., during the 1960s, when a group of artists collectively began to explore and redefine the way art was observed and appreciated. Leaders of the movement - painter and sculptor Eric Orr; Robert Irwin, who later designed the gardens at the Getty Center in Los Angeles; and environmental artist James Turrell - started by breaking down the transformative processes of art and minimalism, defining the character of their movement through

There’s much more to a birdbath than one might think, says Bill Fintel, an expert in the art of setting up small bodies of water to attract our feathered friends. For many years, in fact, Fintel has studied the way birds act around water and has made a career of applying what he knows to creating avian watershapes that have what it takes to satisfy a winged clientele – and delight homeowners who are passionate about their backyard ornithology.

Wings on the Water

Just as few sounds blend so beautifully or evoke such sensations of peace and calm as the sweet tones of birds singing along with the relaxing music of moving water, I'd also have to say that few sights in nature delight the eye more than watching migrating robins queuing up for a bath, hummingbirds darting through a mist or a bold vireo "plunge bathing" in a rippling pool. For most of my life, I've been inspired to observe the beauty and freedom of birds and am among those who have spent hours in the wild hoping to catch a glimpse of a

Successful plumbing design for watershapes all boils down to a need to understand the relationship between water flow and line velocity, says hydraulics expert Steve Gutai. Once you have a good grasp of these fundamental factors, he observes, selecting the right pipes for the job and designing an efficient piping system that will drive your pool, spa or fountain is simply a matter of reading charts and paying attention to details.

Water Under Pressure

Of all the concepts of hydraulic-system design, there are few that have more importance than the correlation between water flow (that is, capacity expressed as gallons per minute) and line velocity (the speed at which the water travels). As water travels through a pipe, its increase in speed (that is, its line velocity) results in an increase in resistance (expressed as feet of head) and in a reduction of end pressure, which is measured in pounds per square inch (psi). In other words, an increase in friction losses and a drop in pressure is the result of increased water velocity at a given flow. If that makes sense to you without further explanation, then you know much of what you need to know when it comes to selecting pipes and fittings and setting up a watershape's plumbing system. If it doesn't, this article will cover the basics - from selecting pipes and sizing lines to

Delicate Dynamics

One of the skills of a good designer is the ability to recognize those situations in which less is more. The detail pictured in these pages, for example, shows how the choice to go with a small volume of moving water (as opposed to a torrent) can add immeasurably to a composition's visual strength. Using this understated approach helps the designer or builder avoid what has become one of the biggest clichés of modern pool design - that is, the outsized waterfall spilling over a single weir from a raised spa into an adjacent swimming pool. My desire to get away from that monotonous

The tale of a river is often told by the life within it, observes Hal Hagen, the one-time owner and operator of a fish hatchery who has since become a specialist in restoring natural waterways. Here, he explains his unique approach to a highly specialized form of watershaping – and discusses how understanding the way nature works in the wild can inform, enable and empower those seeking to replicate it in their man-made streams.

The Soul of the River

I live in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado on the banks of the Arkansas River - a beautiful place and a beautiful river. Within easy reach of my home, the Arkansas flows swiftly in certain spaces, cascading over rugged terrain, then slows down in others to form deep pools that reflect brilliant skies and create a diversity of aquatic habitats. As I watch the river flow, sometimes I can't help thinking back to my days at a trout hatchery and recognizing that if we'd had such a volume of moving water available to us in our operation, we could have produced millions more pounds of healthy fish. I'm simply amazed by the power and complexity of the water I watch, and especially by its ability to

The Soul of the River

I live in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado on the banks of the Arkansas River - a beautiful place and a beautiful river. Within easy reach of my home, the Arkansas flows swiftly in certain spaces, cascading over rugged terrain, then slows down in others to form deep pools that reflect brilliant skies and create a diversity of aquatic habitats. As I watch the river flow, sometimes I can't help thinking back to my days at a trout hatchery and recognizing that if we'd had such a volume of moving water available to us in our operation, we could have produced millions more pounds of healthy fish. I'm simply amazed by the power and complexity of the water I watch, and especially by its ability to