The home swimming pool—that enduring icon of the southern California landscape—has come to signify an oasis of leisure and a sense of well-deserved accomplishment in the American popular imagination. It is a symbol of triumph in the midst of the dry desert, and, particularly at this time of year, an aspirational beacon in stark opposition to harsh East Coast winters. With all of this in mind and more, On the Road, a yearlong series of curated public architectural projects in Los Angeles, presented a group of pool-based installations this past weekend at The Amado, a newly renovated mid-century house-turned-boutique-hotel in Palm Springs. The projects, timed to coincide with the tail end of Palm Springs Modernism Week, aim to explore the concept of leisure in design, as well as the physical qualities of liquid space, promising new ways of imagining the pool as "oasis," and new ideas for exploiting the properties of water as ground for innovation. Most saliently, they highlight the interactive nature of the pool as a social gathering place, proving that the fluidity of water will bring people, forms, and processes together in unexpected ways, forging dynamic interrelationships as they go. Fluids Mashup. Photo: ...
The home swimming pool—that enduring icon of the southern California landscape—has come to signify an oasis of leisure and a sense of well-deserved accomplishment in the American popular imagination. It is a symbol of triumph in the midst of the dry desert, and, particularly at this time of year, an aspirational beacon in stark opposition to harsh East Coast winters. With all of this in mind and more, On the Road, a yearlong series of curated public architectural projects in Los Angeles, presented a group of pool-based installations this past weekend at The Amado, a newly renovated mid-century house-turned-boutique-hotel in Palm Springs. The projects, timed to coincide with the tail end of Palm Springs Modernism Week, aim to explore the concept of leisure in design, as well as the physical qualities of liquid space, promising new ways of imagining the pool as "oasis," and new ideas for exploiting the properties of water as ground for innovation. Most saliently, they highlight the interactive nature of the pool as a social gathering place, proving that the fluidity of water will bring people, forms, and processes together in unexpected ways, forging dynamic interrelationships as they go. Fluids Mashup. Photo: ...