Modernist
Price: £22.00
Photographic Print. A majestic beacon monumental sculpture Modernist water tower near Riocaud, Fr...
Price: £22.00
Photographic Print. A Modernist water tower coming out of the trees like a space ship in Marguero...
Price: £22.00
Photographic Print. An elegant streamlined Modernist concrete water tower in France. A water t...
Price: £22.00
Photographic Print. A reinforced concrete structure water tower near Margueron in the French coun...
Price: £22.00
Photographic Print. A water container as an architectural Modernist tower near Margueron, Riocaud...
Price: £22.00
Photographic Print. A sunlight starburst against a Modernist funnel shaped water tower near Rioca...
Price: £22.00
Photographic Print. A bold Modernist reinforced concrete urban sculpture water tower near Marguer...
Price: £22.00
Photographic Print. A Modernist Water Tower coming out of the trees near Margueron in France. A ...
I saw this Modernist water tower rising majestically out of the trees near Riocaud in France. It was so magnificent in it's beauty and purity of design that I couldn't help photographing it from every angle; truly minimal architecture in the funnel shape and scarsely placed slit windows. This tower is a majestic beacon in the French countryside. Some term these cone shaped reinforced concrete Modernist water towers as Brutalist architecture but with the grace, elegance and clean lines of a 1950's spaceship, I prefer to think of this as Modernist architecture. With it's dramatic bold design, it looks as if a spaceship is landing amongst the trees onto pedastal structures. I can't find any information about this one but I estimate it was built in the 1950s or 1960s and it has stood the test of time, remaining smooth and streamlined.
The first prestressed concrete tanks in reinforced concrete water towers were developed in the 1930s but the original mushroom or spaceship shaped design was built in Orebo, Sweden in the early 1950s and later copies were built around the world. Water towers have various designs, columns, spheres or spheroids with single pedestal or multi column supports.
Many reinforced concrete Modernist water towers of this type can be seen across the French countryside which are the perfect meeting of architecture, science and structural engineering. While the streamlined cone shape and height is for engineering purposes to produce the best flow and pressure of water, the design makes them look like wonderful grand urban sculptures. Modernist sculpture with a very practical purpose.
The structure of a water tower must support the weight of the water and the most economical way to support the substantial weight of water is with a spherical shape that converts the fluid pressure into tension through the mechanism of hoop stress. Having a tall, narrow cylinder means that as the volume of water changes in the water tower, the height of the surface of the water changes by a larger amount and so the variation in water head pressure produced is high.
The elevated structure supporting a water tank at a height sufficient to pressurise a water supply system is for the distribution of drinking water and to provide storage for fire protection. Other types of water towers may only store non drinking water for fire protection or industrial use and may not necessarily be connected to a public water supply.
I photographed it in the golden afternoon light, enjoying the random position of the sun spot and aeroplane contrails against the tower. I will be photographing other Modernist architecture but there are also Modernist buildings in other pages, the Joseph Emberton Casino building in
Fairground Pleasure , the Streamline Moderne Style Aquatic Park Bathhouse in
San Francisco .
Colours are accurate to my photographs but are often over saturated on current HD, uncalibrated and phone screens.
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