Naina Gupta

Modern Architecture and an International Sensibility: A Curious Cross-Atlantic Constellation presents an alternative history of internationalism and modernism, with a focus on the role of architecture and spatial practices. Beginning at the tail-end of the peace movements— the turn of the twentieth century— and ending with the Nuremberg trials, the book highlights the part played by individual agency, social reform and architecture in moulding a working everyday definition of what it meant to be international during this time. By viewing internationalism through the lens of the individual and the body, both as initiator and subject, it is repositioned as an integral part of everyday life, rather than simply understood to be concerned with geopolitical relations between nations and their institutions.The book furthers a research methodology that is multidisciplinary and transnational. It will therefore be of interest to researchers and students of architecture and international history.

A visual feast of fifty wonderfully distinctive and architecturally astounding swimming pools from around the world Extraordinary Pools is a mosaic of exceptional public and private examples of pools, reasserting the protean quality of the swimming pool as a space of activity, pleasure, and excess. Illustrated with awe-inspiring color photography, it showcases stunning examples of architecturally significant swimming pools around the world, including: Berthold Lubetkin's modernist Penguin Pool at the London Zoo The world's largest infinity pool at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore The landmark Julia Morgan-designed City Club pool in Berkeley, California Luis Barragan's signature L-shaped pools at Cuadra San Cristobal in Mexico And many more Woven throughout are essays by swimmers and architectural experts on the role swimming pools have played in shaping modern culture, from the 1932 Olympics and Mussolini's campaign to redefine the new Italian Fascist as physically fit, disciplined, and virile to the dawn of circular backyard pools in California that became playgrounds for skateboarders during the great drought of the 1970s. With its lush imagery and lively discussion, Extraordinary Pools will dazzle recreationists and architecture enthusiasts alike. STUNNING PHOTOGRAPHY: Illustrated with full-color images throughout, Extraordinary Pools is an aspirational, covetable volume befitting any design lover's coffee table display. ENDLESSLY FASCINATING: Swimming pools are status symbols and objects of interest regardless of climate or season. Whether they are used for athletic pursuits or the simple joy of relaxing in water, found indoors or out, are kidney-shaped or Olympic-sized, pools are an enthralling source of visual and aesthetic pleasure. EXPERIENCED AUTHOR: Naina Gupta, a practicing architect who teaches at the Architectural Association of the School of Architecture in London, turns her trained eye on a dazzling array of pools to explore their visual impact and cultural significance. Perfect for: Swimmers, beach lovers, and pool enthusiasts Collectors of architecture, design, and home d cor books Host/hostess or housewarming gift Architectural history buffs Photography fans and armchair travelers

A visual feast of 49 weird, wonderful and architecturally astounding swimming pools from around the world. This book is a sumptuous celebration of swimming pools as playgrounds of pioneering design and architectural excess. Banish memories of crowded leisure centres and sun lounger-clad lidos, these are pools designed for pleasure, not purpose. Swimming pools are no longer simply places to swim, they are versatile sites of activity and excess. They can be vital lifelines providing communities with safe access to water, domestic symbols of affluence, and the avant-garde spectacle of hotel developers.Naina Gupta uncovers some of the most spectacular swimming pools from around the world, including Berthold Lubetkin’s modernist Penguin Pool at London Zoo, the world’s largest infinity pool at Marina Bay Sands, Ricardo Bofill’s blood-red garden pool in Spain, and London’s unparalleled Sky Pool. Extraordinary Pools also includes 4 extended essays on various aspects of pool culture, such as the use of empty swimming pools in California by skateboarders. Illustrated throughout with awe-inspiring colour photography, Extraordinary Pools is a mosaic of exceptional public and private pools, reasserting the protean quality of the swimming pool as a space of activity, pleasure and excess.