Summer on the Edge – Pools From Above by Brad Walls
Curating summer across 89 aerial images of swimming pools by prominent architects, Pools From Above kindles nostalgic memories of sunny days spent poolside. Brad Walls showcases the qualities of pools as seen from the air, highlighting the curved or sharp edges, materiality and saturated hues that give each pool its personality.
Featuring pools by the likes of Renato D’Ettore Architects, John Lautner and Luis Barragan, Pools From Above features images that spark evocative memories of summers spent splashing in the pool and relaxing by the water’s edge. In addition to their emotive impact, the photographs also highlight the dynamic and graphic properties of the swimming pool. Positioning the viewer above, Brad captures both the feeling of the first dive into the blue and draws the eye to the geometry, negative space, symmetry, contrast, hue, line and material of each pool.
The book is a travelogue of sorts, taking readers along for the ride. In Bel Air, California, a geometric pool evokes the rare feeling of old Hollywood films and celebrity glamour through the red brick surrounding and corner planters. In Tulum, Mexico, red and white tiles evoke an on-trend checked pattern while the glass-sided pool and leafy vegetation inspires the idea of vacationing in the height of summer.
From classic rectangles to the more curvaceous pools, geometry has a key role to play in the images’ composition. The cover pool, located in Vaucluse, Sydney, sees effortless curves weaving around the edge of the pool create the illusion of silent waves. In contrast, a public pool in Surry Hills offers a sharp-edged rectilinear form, the lines of the swimming lanes adding another engaging compositional element.
Brought together in a single volume, the pools simultaneously take on an abstract and an emotive quality. Readers come to realise that pools are spaces for gathering, sharing and enjoying the outdoors as well as designed objects in their own right.
