Extraordinary Pools

A visual feast of fifty wonderfully distinctive and architecturally astounding swimming pools from around the world.

Extraordinary Pools is a mosaic of exceptional public and private examples of pools, reasserting the protean quality of the swimming pool as a space of activity, pleasure, and excess. Illustrated with awe-inspiring color photography, it showcases stunning examples of architecturally significant swimming pools around the world, including:

• Berthold Lubetkin's modernist Penguin Pool at the London Zoo
• The world's largest infinity pool at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore
• The landmark Julia Morgan-designed City Club pool in Berkeley, California
• Luis Barragan's signature L-shaped pools at Cuadra San Cristobal in Mexico
• And many more

Woven throughout are essays by swimmers and architectural experts on the role swimming pools have played in shaping modern culture, from the 1932 Olympics and Mussolini's campaign to redefine the new Italian Fascist as physically fit, disciplined, and virile to the dawn of circular backyard pools in California that became playgrounds for skateboarders during the great drought of the 1970s. With its lush imagery and lively discussion, Extraordinary Pools will dazzle recreationists and architecture enthusiasts alike.

Naina Gupta is an architect with degrees from Bangalore University and the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London. She is a registered architect in India and has a decade of experience working in architectural practices. She teaches at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London.