Design Yearbook 2017

Empty Pool
Katie Lloyd Thomas & Rona Lee
Acknowledging the various ways of defining emptiness, the study of The Empty Pool revolves around the state that follows the removal of
water. This decision is derived from the intrinsic link between the pool’s main modus usandi – swimming and paddling. The specificity of the
pool’s form prevents programmatic alteration, a constraint that offers ample space for imagination and discussion. The peculiarity at the sight
of the pool’s exposed form, segregated from its intention, is an exceptionally intriguing theme, open for interpretation. Site visits, theoretical
readings and film screenings were used as resources for the development of the project.
The outcome of the group research was an inventory of empty pools, compiled in a book for the purposes of an exhibition. A volumetric study
through a series of physical models was conducted for a selection of pools. The pool shapes in 1:500 scale were sunk into plaster rectangles,
the dimension of which was derived from the standard swimming pool tile.
Within the project students formulated individual research topics. Martin explored the purpose and patterns of oceanic lidos, a pool typology
which is currently reviving throughout the British Isles. Stavri investigated the physical animation of the female body in the element of water
through researching psychoanalysis, feminine theories and the swimming pool’s cinematic history. Theodora defined a typology under the
name ‘exotic pool’ and used the exposed volumes of Tropicana Pool in Rotterdam as a lens to deconstruct and decipher the illusion of a tropical
landscape fantasy.
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