The architecture of swimming – Outdoor Swimming Society
outdoorswimmingsociety.com
The architecture of swimming – Outdoor Swimming Society
As public spaces they serve as an embodied and participatory democracy. While the forms of swimming pool, sauna and sento may be robust and enduring, they rely on active participants and defenders on location to survive. In the relative vulnerability of the sauna or the swimming pool, we are permitted to imagine and test new behaviours and form new... See more
The architecture of swimming – Outdoor Swimming Society
we are physically bare, made equal, not many symbols of social status can exist at the pool. (no purse, car, makeup, hairstyle…). gathering around water (fluid body) allows you to reflect on shifting norms ?
These are unique and precious forms of public space where the body in relation cannot be forgotten.
The architecture of swimming – Outdoor Swimming Society
Bathing spaces work directly and evidently with the body, it is a direct relationship, response. At the swimming you become conscious, self-aware because of your lack of clothing but also because of the architecture. This self-awareness doesn’t happen so much in natural swimming spots, at the beach, by the river, the pond… because in that situation you are focusing on the natural environment more than yourself, there’s a much larger distraction. The pool is inherently a stage, a performative platform for the swimmer to stand out.