We all know by now that water (any body of water) has a soothing effect. It’s even better when we have one in the comfort of our own homes — enter Pools.
But pools are not just a calming element in the backyard. Ever since the iconic photographs of the '60s (often by Slim Aarons), pools have come to represent status, fun, and a rich playground for design.
Pools + Design
We’ll touch design first, because what’s more fun than good design?
There are 4 people that shaped the elite, modernist visual language we have in mind when we think of a) the ‘60s and b) Palm Springs (and more often than not, 2 of them overlap): Slim Aarons, Richard Neutra, John Lautner and Julius Shulman.
Richard Neutra, an Austrian-American architect, is widely regarded as one of the most influential modernists of the 20th century. His work was defined by clean lines, simple forms, and a thoughtful use of light, space, and geometry. Neutra often incorporated industrial materials like steel and glass to create buildings that were both functional and beautiful.
Neutra was known for his meticulous attention to detail and his philosophy of “biorealism,” which emphasized the health and wellbeing of the occupants through design.
Swimming pools often serve as social gathering places and that’s what Slim Aarons’ photographs were evoking, a glimpse into the worlds of the rich and beautiful. What made them even more alluring was that his photos were never staged, making viewers feel like part of the jet-set scene.
Isn’t a swimming pool just architecture you can dive into?
John Lautner, with his gravity-defying buildings, helped shape the image we now associate with Palm Springs — a modernist playground.
Pools + Icons + A lil fashion moment (obviously)
There’s a certain blue that almost no one can get away with. That clear, chlorinated kind, the one that shifts with the light, (whether natural or artificial), lined with tiny bubbles and that familiar dégradé mosaic beneath the surface. Beyond the look, it’s the feeling it evokes. And it’s been consistently influencing creatives for decades.
From 90s supermodels and fashion photographers (hello Helmut!) to musicians, directors, and cultural icons, the pool has always had a strange pull.
It’s been shot from above…
From below…
Floating…
Or from the modernist clean-lined surrounding spaces…
Always still. Always composed. What makes those images iconic is basically the atmosphere they carry.
A sense of ease. Of understated luxury. The sun is strong, but no one’s sweating. Everything is calm, intentional, beautifully unbothered. People look sharp, relaxed, totally in the moment, and somehow completely outside of it.
It’s hard to explain, but instantly clear. The pool becomes more than a place. It’s a mood. A version of life where everything feels lighter, cooler, and suddenly in control.
The Fun Pools
When was the last time you swam in a pool that wasn’t shaped like a pool? Probably never. And that’s only because you missed the golden era of America’s motel culture, when the real stars weren’t the rooms, but the surprisingly imaginative pools.
Scattered across the States, these retro gems came in every shape you wouldn’t expect: clowns, hearts, or even Florida.
Now that is art. Like, who wakes up and thinks, “Let’s make a pool shaped like a piano”? Genius.
If you haven’t dipped in a pool shaped like a shoe, have you really lived? Life’s too short for basic pools.
It’s a reminder of how far people’s imaginations used to go, long before minimalist infinity edges took over. And honestly, you could never be bored with a pool shaped like a heart…
Or one you can literally carry around (yes, that’s a thing, don’t ask how, just keep scrolling.)
Pools + Art
Pools have become cultural icons, inspiring art and symbolising hedonism, sexual freedom, and joie de vivre. Which is ironic, considering the water inside a swimming pool is always still, contained, and somehow 'trapped'.
David Hockney was to Los Angeles what Piranesi was to Rome, as he said so himself. He saw it as 'the promised land.' He drew and painted Los Angeles not in the way Roman Polanski captured it in Chinatown, but with vibrant optimism, mostly through its swimming pools.
Hockney was fascinated by the challenge of capturing the immaterial: water, light, transparency, and various kinds of liquidity. He explored the way surfaces are penetrated — like light passing through water — and did so with a distinct emotional sensitivity.
We’ve made great efforts to evoke the feeling of a swimming pool, even where it just doesn’t exist.
Happy Swimming!
