I haven't posted on abandoned swimming pools for a while, but how could I ignore Mike Tyson's abandoned estate and indoor pool when I found it? The decaying mansion is located in Southington, Ohio and has been desolate for years. Do yourself a favor and click HERE for detailed photos of the entire pimped-out paradise, including lion cages in the back yard (wtf?!), wall-to-wall zebra carpeting, and marble and glass hallways. I can only imagine what kind of parties went down here.
In the city of Pripyat, Ukraine near Chernobyl. Once a thriving city with 50,000 residents and many modern facilities including a sports center with this indoor swimming pool. The entire city was evacuated after the nuclear fallout in April 1986. The pool, still full of water, slowly evaporated over the next 20+ years. The pool shown in June 2003. I try to credit photographers, though many of these images were just pulled from the abyss of random internet photos. Photographers include David McMillan, BR Lappin, Tiblu, and Olli Salo.
North London. Here is the small pool. The walls are kind of like a crazy quilt. Main pool. Built in 1904, derelict since 1991. After the pool was drained, a floor was laid and temporarily turned into a dance hall/boxing ring.Then.NowAll photos from Mechanised and Paul Wood.
Basically, this blog is temporarily turning into one about pools until I move onto my next fixation. Expect a slew of posts regarding pools, mostly of the indoor, old-fashioned, abandoned sort. I've always been kind of afraid of but fascinated by such pools, so I'm diving in and doing some research. For now, check this out from Charolotte Cooper's site:
Hornsey Road Baths When I lived in Finsbury Park my local pool closed. It reopened briefly for an art installation that involved naked people running around the drained pool cavity. The art was very bad although I enjoyed sniggering at the nudity. The pool has remained closed since then, it's been closed for about ten years, but its sign remains. WOW!!!
This is like in Revenge of the Nerds 2: Nerds in Paradise when some of the letters are burned out in the hotel sign at the Hotel Coral Essex so that it reads "Hot Oral Sex" instead. Remember that? Amazing. I couldn't find a single photo of it, I'll have to rent this movie again, but you can watch this for now:
Another Julia Morgan favorite is the Roman Pool at Hearst Castle, built between 1927-34 in San Simeon, CA. The indoor pool is decorated floor to ceiling with 1" glass tiles in blue, orange, and gold. I visited Hearst Castle as a kid fresh out of a chicken pox haze and the decadence of the pool has left an impression on me ever since.
I guess I'm onto an architectural tangent now. Julia Morgan is among my favorite architects and I've always really loved swimming pools, so thought I'd share one of my most favorite Berkeley places. The Berkeley City Club was built in 1929 by Julia Morgan in Moorish and Gothic revival styles and is a California historical landmark today. Every part of the building is amazing, but the pool really takes the cake with its sweeping archways and elaborate tile work. I've been working on a new project that was largely inspired by this pool...I'll share details of that soon.
