Gigantium Swimming Centre, International Competition: 2001 • Architects: Lida Charsouli, Nathaniel Kolbe

The concept for the Gigantium swimming pool has developed while studing rock formations and landscape to create a programmatic agenda. The swimming pool itself is a structured diagram exploiting the change in speed that characterizes the entire buidling and use. By introducing the element of speed into the formal aspects of the landscape of the pool, we can manipulate the topography both horizontally and vertically. The landscape becomes an active ingredient in the distribution of the pools. The strips of ground and structure dictate the depth of the pools and create the necessary separation between the speeds of users. The stepped landscape at the slow end gives small children a shallow pool where water slips over the steppes and creates a safe zone to play. The same steppes form the warm pools of the Jacuzzis by providing seating into the warm-water mini amphitheatre.