Everywhere Pools

For the past few years, I’ve made a practice of offering occasional roundups of books that feature swimming pools as their star attractions. As I’ve mentioned before, there was a time when such publications simply did not exist – but now we seem to be in an era when pools are hot and a visit to a good bookstore will reveal a plethora of relevant titles covering a remarkably wide range of projects and styles.

As with swimming pools themselves, of course, the books dedicated to them vary widely in quality and creativity: Some are truly wonderful, while others are of marginal value and offer little by way of useful ideas. I take all of them, however, as evidence that booksellers have noticed increasing consumer interest in highly imaginative swimming pools. I further believe that this interest has developed because so many of today’s watershapers are willing to push forcefully at the boundaries of creativity.

[ ] Let’s start with H2O Architecture by Stephen Carsti (Images Publishing Group, 2005). This 215-page volume is about watershapes integrated into the structures of custom homes – which in most cases translates to pools that share walls with homes or have been built into courtyards.

The intimacy of these connections might explain why all of these watershapes were designed by architects rather than pool designers or landscape architects; it might also explain the distinctively Modernist look a lot of the projects have. I can accept both those biases, but I’m puzzled by the fact that most of the covered projects are in Australia and New Zealand: It’s obvious that wonderful work is being done in those places, but I can’t help thinking the book might have been improved had Carsti broadened his scope.

For all that, the photos are beautiful and the pools themselves represent some truly inventive thinking on the part of these architects – enough to make it a useful “idea book” despite its pronounced geographical limits.

[ ] Next is Picture Perfect Pools by Tina Skinner and Dinah Rosenberry (Schisser Publishing, 2007) – the least inspiring book in this sampling. Its 120 pages are graced by several lovely pools, the photography is good and the projects cover a range of styles, but for the most part it’s stuff we’ve all seen before, at least in spirit.

Yes, there are a few cutting-edge projects worth checking out, but compared to other available publications, this one falls flat for me in the imagination department.

[ ] Our final book here caught me by surprise, mostly because one of my own designs is featured in it and nobody had bothered to let me know. (I’ve been published in books like this before, but never without notification!) That minor rub aside, Great Pools, Spas and Outdoor Living (Meredith Publishing, 2008) is a worthy purchase. There’s no author: It’s a compilation of articles from Homes & Gardens Magazine that highlight beautifully crafted outdoor environments.

Beyond being pleased by the obvious wisdom that inspired selection of at least one of these projects, what I like most about this 290-page collection is that the pools and spas featured here are shown in the contexts of fully developed outdoor environments. Along with various watershapes, you’ll also see terrific outdoor kitchens, spectacular fire elements, great entertainment areas and several beautiful gardens.

All in all, it’s clear that book publishers are more interested than ever before in giving consumers access to information on a wide range of watershaping possibilities. In the process, I’m glad to see that what they’re producing is good enough to give us professionals the inside track on a number of useful ideas – a fact that will keep me combing bookstore shelves for more of the same in years to come.

Mike Farley is a landscape architect with more than 20 years of experience and is currently a designer/project manager for Claffey Pools in Southlake, Texas. A graduate of Genesis 3’s Level I Design School, he holds a degree in landscape architecture from Texas Tech University and has worked as a watershaper in both California and Texas.