Extraordinary Pools

Join us for the book launch of Extraordinary Pools

A feast of 49 architecturally astounding swimming pools from around the world that explore the relationship between swimming and its influence on the architectural imaginary.

A curated collection that portrays the versatility of the swimming pool and the architecture that the swimming body inspired. It displays some of the world’s famous architectural projects from a new point of view—from that of the swimming pool—through a collection of delectable photographs. It catalogues its many facets—progressive visions, ecological connections, private pleasures, technological mastery and unadulterated excess.

Extraordinary Pools is a mosaic of exceptional public and private pools, reasserting the protean quality of the swimming pool as a space of activity, pleasure and excess authored by Naina Gupta. It includes four extended essays by Anna Font, Iain Borden, Mathilde Redouté, and Tatjana Crossley on various aspects of pool culture.

Naina Gupta is a university teacher at the School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture at the University of Sheffield. She is the author of this and another forthcoming book Modern Architecture and an International Sensibility: A Curious Cross- Atlantic Constellation (Routledge, 2025)

Iain Borden is Vice-Dean Education at The Bartlett, UCL. His most recent book is Skateboarding and the City: a Complete History (Bloomsbury 2019).

Mathilde Redouté is an architect, researcher, and educator, exploring the role of commoning in the evolution of medieval and modern development.

We are delighted to welcome Naina Gupta and her guests to the AA Bookshop to celebrate the launch of her new book. The book will be sold at the special price of £20 (RRP £25)