Jun 20 2007

Conference

An Intimate History of The Swimming Pool

6PM at the Swiss Institute

The Swiss Institute hosts a discussion with Thomas A.P. van Leeuwen on the cultural significance of the swimming pool.

Professor of architectural history, cultural history, and art criticism at Leiden University for many years, van Leeuwen joins the Swiss Institute to discuss his views on twentieth century modernism and his recent investigation into the origin and evolution of the domestic swimming pool. In his 1998 publication, “The Springboard in the Pond: An Intimate History of the Swimming Pool,” van Leeuwen outlined a compelling history of the swimming pool as a cultural artifact, investigating both the societal and architectural ramifications of man’s relationship to water.

“Thomas van Leeuwen’s history of the Swimming Pool is a heroic and timely attempt to theorize an architecture of the liquid.”
Rem Koolhaas

Entrance is free and open to the public

for more information please contact casey@swissinstitute.net