Not running water
In all times, mankind and especially in urban areas, has worried about protecting itself against fires, and fighting them. A quick and easy access to water is everywhere a basic requirement. From the bucket to airplanes, technical means are many and have considerably improved. A modern answer to that requirement has been the establishment of a network, mostly underground, with delivery points adequately located, whether it be in buildings or in the public spaces, resulting in millions of fire hydrants spread all over the world.
This last point caught my attention when realising how, to address a sheer identical challenge, human fantasy achieved to produce such a variety of shapes in the making of these hydrants, as well as in the way inhabitants sometimes imprinted their visual mark on them.
When travelling, I had fun discovering testimonies, showing how universality and individual identity can marry, often happily. From one culture to another, it is also interesting to notice how may vary the balance between a pure functional uniformity, and an originality almost without boundaries.
