Pool: A dip into outdoor swimming pools: the history, design and people behind them

Description

A celebration of outdoor swimming - looking at the history, design and architecture of pools, as well as the social aspect. The 1930s architecture of the pools is often sleek and elegant, evoking speed and efficiency. And the pools themselves are great social levellers - a public space where everyone is stripped down to a bathing suit. The book begins with a history of the pools - their grand beginnings after the buttoned-up Victorian era, their falling popularity in the 20th century, and the newfound appreciation for the outdoor pool, or lido, and outdoor swimming in the 21st century. Journalist and architectural historian Christopher Beanland picks the very best of the outdoor pools around the world, including the Icebergs Pool on Bondi Beach, Australia; the 137m seawater pool in Vancouver, Canada; Siza's concrete sea pools in Porto, Portugal; the restored art deco pool in Saltdean, UK, and the pool at the Zollverein Coal Mines in Essen, Germany. The book will also feature the lost lidos and the fascinating history behind the architecture of the pools, and essays on swimming pools in art, and the importance of pools in Australia. In addition there are interviews with pool users around the globe about why it is they swim. The book is illustrated throughout with beautiful colour photography, as well as archive photography and advertising.

Christopher Beanland is a journalist and author who specialises in architecture and travel writing. He is the author of Concrete Concept: Brutalist buildings around the world and writes regularly for The Guardian, The Independent, The Telegraph and Mr Porter.

Architecture critic and water baby Christopher Beanland takes a deep dive into the fashionable outdoor swimming scene with Lido, profiling the world's best pools with his trademark wit, wisdom and pop culture references. Stylish photography and interviews with fellow lido enthusiasts only further add gloss to Beanland's delightful new book. -- Steve Pill, Discover Britain