A celebration of outdoor swimming – looking at the history, design and social aspect of pools.
Few experiences can beat diving into a pool in the fresh air, swimming with blue skies above you.Whether it’s a dip into a busy and bustling city pool on a sweltering summer day, or taking the plunge in icy waters, the lido provides a place of peace in a frenetic world.
Lido is a celebration of outdoor swimming in all forms, whether jumping into pools set in lakes or on the coast, or swimming lengths nestled among skyscrapers with office workers looking on.
Architecture and travel writer Christopher Beanland takes the reader on a tour of the very best pools from around the world – from the pool in a disused coal mine in Germany to the world’s biggest pool in Chile, the iconic Icebergs in Australia to the steaming Blue Lagoon in Iceland. A chapter on British pools looks at some of the best-restored art deco lidos in the country, including the Grade II-listed Saltdean Lido in Brighton and the Jubilee Pool in Penzance.
Christopher looks at the architecture and the design of the pools and explores the social history of swimming. He has interviewed swimmers around the world to discover what it is that draws them to water. There are also chapters on swimming in art and Britain’s lost lidos.
Illustrated throughout with beautiful photographs, this is a must-have for anyone interested in swimming and architecture.
Christopher Beanland is a journalist and author who specialises in architecture and travel writing. He is the author of Concrete Concept: Brutalist buildings around the world and the novels The Wall In The Head and Spinning Out Of Control. He writes regularly for The Guardian, The Independent, The Telegraph and Mr Porter.
ISBN
9781849945844Title
Lido: A Dip Into Outdoor Swimming Pools: The History, Design and People Behind ThemAuthor
Christopher BeanlandPublisher
BatsfordPublication year
2020Binding
HardcoverLanguage
English
