House & Garden 
in the middle of a street, unless there he ample 
space to insure free passage of traffic. There 
was sharp criticism, not many months ago, ot 
the artistic immorality of a project for a monu¬ 
mental fountain in the town of Nordlingen, 
Germany, at the crossing of four streets, 
because two of these thoroughfares already had 
small decorative erections of their own, occu¬ 
pying strategic positions and likely to join in 
blockading vehicular passengers. To warn 
committees against such blunders as this, how¬ 
ever, would be merely to utter what old Sir 
Henry Wotton, in his “Elements of Architec¬ 
ture,” written nearly three centuries ago, might 
have termed one of the “ vulgar cautions,” 
being only another form ol common sense. 
When space for an open circle or triangle is 
available, formal treatment, with a fountain, 
is often strikingly successful. Such a method 
of ornamenting and vivifying a plot in the 
heart of a city may be studied in the accom¬ 
panying photograph and plan of a memorial 
fountain recently erected in Detroit from 
designs of Carrere and Hastings, by Senator 
Thomas W. Palmer. It divides the base line 
of a triangular space, at whose apex is a statue. 
On the street side, opposite the Opera House, 
is a drinking place for horses. The fountain 
itself faces the apex of the triangle, the water 
from this miniature chateau d'eau flowing into 
three successive basins. The two balustrades 
extending as quadrants on both sides of the 
central member help to focus interest upon the 
semicircular niche and its gushing water. The 
three single jets, issuing from the surface of the 
lower pool, prevent any feeling of thinness in 
the design. The recessed portal of the Opera 
House forms an excellent backing for the 
white stone structure, while the simplicity and 
accessibility of the fountain are both in its 
favor. The sinking of the pool below the 
street level enables the passer-by to see it 
more readily, and makes possible the advan¬ 
tageous effect of sloping grass plots, bringing 
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THE TREVI FOUNTAIN 
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*55 
