High-rise swimming pools

Normally, to get into a swimming pool you have to go down a few steps, but in the ones we're featuring this week, you have to take the lift. Thanks to this, they offer spectacular views and, what’s more, you don’t need a plot of land to install them. Which is to say, you can have a swimming pool in a residential building right in the heart of a city. We’ve put this into practice ourselves in some of our projects, such as O7 in Montjuïc and Brooklyn in Madrid.

The drawbacks include the technical complexity and the enormous load that has to be transferred to the structure. On the plus side, there are plenty of arguments in their favour. Apart from their spectacular nature and the space they save, this type of pool is often found in places where it is unusual to have a pool. In other words, they add a touch of exclusivity and also act as a social anchor for the community. With them, the rooftop becomes a meeting place for residents and a symbol of identity for the whole building.

Torres Blancas

Torres Blancas deserves an article in its own right – and a thesis – and we promise we’ll write it, but for now, we invite you to climb to the top of its 81 metres, from where you can enjoy a 360-degree panoramic view of Madrid. The builder Juan Huarte struggled to convince Sáenz de Oiza, who invariably recommended one architect or another, all of whom, in his view, were better qualified to undertake such an ambitious project.

In the end, after much insistence and with the collaboration of Fullaondo and Moneo, Sáenz de Oiza began his masterpiece, which was also his first major project: two towers on Avenida de América that were to be understood as vertical cities; a pioneering concept in organicist architecture, which Sáenz de Oiza brought to life by drawing inspiration from a plan by Frank Lloyd Wright and honing it through many a sleepless night. Squaring the circle, but in reverse.

In this organicist and vertical city concept, life was meant to flow throughout the building, understood as a living, autonomous and almost self-sufficient whole. That is why all the flats were designed as stacked single-family homes with gardens; their curved forms followed the laws of nature and, furthermore, were to include a series of communal areas intended to provide services to their inhabitants.

Thus, lifts were planned to transport food directly from the restaurant on the top floor to each of the apartments. And indeed, at the very top, there was to be an exclusive shopping area, a hairdresser’s and a swimming pool. Of all that, only the pool took shape, like a natural lake, a sinuous oasis winding its way through the concrete above Madrid’s ceaseless traffic.

The Red Wall

Ricardo Bofill’s work has enjoyed a second lease of life thanks to Instagram and the Red Wall. This apartment complex in Calpe began as a simple holiday residence, but that oft-repeated concept fell into the hands of a Bofill in a state of grace and in possession of absolute formal freedom, prior to his postmodern adventure. This latter evolution is by no means without interest, though it is more controversial aesthetically.

Even so, if we think about it, the Red Wall also has a postmodern feel to it; the only difference is that, rather than reviving classical ornamentation, it draws inspiration from the Moorish architectural tradition that is so deeply rooted on our Mediterranean coast. Thus, with the concept of the kasbah as a reference, a touch of the Alhambra in the arrangement of the volumes on the mountainside and a highly evocative colour palette, a world-renowned and acclaimed work was born.

But, although it might seem so, La Muralla Roja is much more than its striking aesthetics. In fact, its layout deserves a special mention—a labyrinth interwoven with buildings featuring a Greek cross plan; or its communal spaces, which blend the private and the public, just as the architect had experimented with in Walden 7. Then there are those terraces, which are both interior and exterior at the same time and frame the landscape. And, of course, the rooftop swimming pool, which departs from the Greek cross and becomes strangely Christian in character atop a complex built in accordance with centuries of Hispano-Muslim architecture. Or, to put it another way, an impeccable metaphor for our Mediterranean.

Edificio España

We’ve mentioned Edificio España a few times before, almost always because of its uncertain fate and its constant changes of ownership. We’ve also told you how it came into being, as a symbol of Franco’s Spain and the tallest building in Europe at the time, something like the Ryugyong Hotel that Kim Il-sung wanted to build in Pyongyang. Except here, the Otamendi brothers took charge of completing it in record time so that, in 1953, the Hotel Plaza could open its doors.

The Edificio España quickly became an essential social and business hub for the capital, and among its attractions was a spectacular swimming pool situated in one of its side wings and facing the rear façade of the building.

This swimming pool enjoyed the same success as the rest of the hotel, and its sun loungers were frequented by the crème de la crème of Madrid society. Having seen that pool, one is still struck by the simple balustrade separating the bathers from the void and the proximity of the water to the façade.

The rear façade, which is far more interesting than the main one, lost its protected status in 2014 during the controversial amendments to the Urban Development Plan undertaken by Madrid City Council.

Fortunately, the building regained its Level 3 protection status and, when Riu bought it to open its flagship hotel in Madrid, it decided to restore the building’s architectural heritage and original character. And among these features is the famous swimming pool. Admittedly, it has been reduced to a third of its former size and lacks that daring, literally overflowing look if someone were to do a cannonball. No doubt, today more than one person would have climbed onto the balustrade to jump into the water. Better not to take the risk.

Photos: Ana Amado, Gregori Civera, Perry Graham, Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura, Pinterest, Zhuanlan Zhihu, Riu Plaza España, El Confidencial.