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SAHARA Highlights: Bathing

Aug 15, 2024 by SAHARA Co-Editors Jacqueline Spafford, Jeannine Keefer and Associate Editor Meral Ekincioglu

Continuing with the scorching hot summer theme, this month we explore the bathing and swimming environments in the SAHARA collections.  This selection includes the kidney pool in the Donnell Garden which brought Alvar Aalto (Villa Mairea) to the United States and greatly influenced California skate culture.  There are public pools and sea baths that serve as sites of recreation and community building. And finally, there are pools that offer a sense of escape with historical and fantastic elements.

The images below come from both the Members and Public SAHARA collections. Need more azure delights in your day?Visit SAHARA and try the following search terms: ‘bath,’ ‘pool’ or ‘swimming pool.’

Reminder: The SAHARA transition to JSTOR is finally complete, and SAHARA images are now available alongside print materials, including JSAH. With your log-in (the same as your SAH and current SAHARA log-in) you can see both the open access Community Collection and the Members Collection: https://www.jstor.org/site/sahara/. Your image groups are now organized in Workspace. Please contact the editors if you are having any problems. For contact information, and to learn more about contributing, visit: http://www.sah.org/publications-and-research/sahara.    

 

Splish, Splash: The Architecture of Bathing

Thomas Dolliver Church, Austen Pierpont, and Adaline Kent, Donnell Garden, Sonoma, California, 1948-1949 (pool garden).

View of the pool and landscape from above.  Photograph by Dell Upton, 2001.

 

Morris Lapidus, Fontainbleau Hotel, Miami Beach, Florida, 1954.

View of the swimming pool.  Photograph by Richard Guy Wilson.

 

John E. Lautner, Foster Carling House, Los Angeles, California, 1947.

View of the indoor swimming pool.  Photography by Dianne Harris.

 

Beverly Willis Architects, Goeglein Pool House, Yountville, Napa Valley, California, 1987.

Photograph by Peter Christiansen.

 

Rios Clemente Hale Studios, Grand Park, Los Angeles, California, 2010-2012.

View of the Membrane Pool and Will Fountain. Photograph by Dell Upton, 2014.

 

Julia Morgan, Hearst Castle/San Simeon; William Randolph Hearst Estate, San Luis Obispo, California, 1919-1942.

View of the Neptune Pool (1927-1932). Photograph by Dell Upton, 1991.

 

White Arkitekter, Kastrup Sea Bath/Kastrup Søbad, Kastrup, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2005.

Photograph by Jeannine Keefer, 2024.

 

Alvaro Siza, Leça Swimming Pools, Leça da Palmeira, Porto, Portugal, 1996.

Photograph by Andrew Leach, 2010.

 

Lucien Pollet, Jacques Rougerie, and Alain-Charles Perrot, Piscines Molitor, Paris, France, 1929.

Photograph by Mark Hinchman, 2018.

 

Geoffrey Bawa and Edwards Reid, and Begg, Triton Hotel, Ahungalla, Sri Lanka, 1979-1981.

View of the hotel and pool from the beach. Photograph by Anoma Pieris, 2010.

 

Phineas Paist with Denman Fink, Venetian Pool, Coral Gables, Florida, United States, 1924.

Photograph by Emily Neumeier, 2024.  

A century before Walt Disney came to town, developers were using architecture to market Florida as a land of fantasy and leisure. Emily Neumeier, Assistant Professor of Art History at Temple University, describes this phenomenon as 'Florida Orientalism.'  Neumeier is the 2023 recipient of the Edilia and François-Auguste de Montêquin Fellowship.

 

George Thomas Hine; Virgin Group, Virgin Active Swimming Pool, Repton Park, London, United Kingdom, 1892-1893; 2022.

Formerly the chapel for the Claybury Hospital complex converted into a gym and swimming pool. Photograph by Naina Gupta, 2022.