PoolTalk

Cattails in the pool

No chemicals, plenty of cattails. That's the premise of a new concept for pools, described in detail in this backyard pool New York Times piece. Here's an excerpt:

"The “natural pools” that Total Habitat builds are bordered with wood, planted with lush vegetation and free of chemicals like chlorine; they resemble nothing so much as a swimming hole. “It’s natural-looking, like a pond,” Mr. Hilleary said. “But the water looks so clean. People really want to swim in it, more than in a farm pond.”

Natural swimming pools (or swimming ponds, as they are called in Europe, where the concept originated 20 years ago) are self-cleaning pools that combine swimming areas and water gardens. Materials and designs vary — the pools can be lined with rubber or reinforced polyethylene, as in the case of Total Habitat’s, and may look rustic or modern — but all natural pools rely on “regeneration” zones, areas given over to aquatic plants that act as organic cleansers."

Isle of Man

There is a swimming pool in Port Erin, the old Victorian tourist town on the Isle of Man, that is now empty and ghost-like. It was once an ideal spot to swim and watch the sea. Check out this photo.

Berlin Poolship

Reuters reports: Berlin's city skyline is seen behind the futuristic designed 'Badeschiff' (Poolship), a floating sauna and swimming pool, on the Spree river in Berlin November 3, 2006. The extraordinary public bath is transformed during winter time into a sauna landscape. Click for another photo.

Most beautiful pool

Roubaix’s out-of-the-ordinary and simply breathtaking art museum, La Piscine, is the pride of the city today. “There’s no question that La Piscine is Roubaix’s gem,” says Alexandre Alibrandi, a guide and researcher at La Piscine (formally called La Musée d’Art et d’Industrie).

More, from France Today: La Piscine now houses works by artists from Picasso to clothing designer Paco Rabanne.