Archinect - News

Friends of +POOL responds to inventor Dong-Ping Wong’s ‘bittersweet’ thoughts on the project

2024-01-25T14:22:00-05:00

'Friends of +POOL' have issued Archinect with a response to our recent reporting of concerns raised by Dong-Ping Wong, the project’s inventor and architect.

Reacting to news that the long-planned project had received $16 million in city and state funding, Wong described the step as “bittersweet” in a post shared on Instagram before expressing various concerns about the scheme.

“+ POOL's record on swim education and swim accessibility for communities of color speaks for itself,” Friends of +POOL Managing Director Kara Meyer said in a statement provided to Archinect. “Friends of + POOL has made DEI a major priority in its policies and programs, which is why it was a centerpiece of both the Governor and the Mayor’s announcements at the Jan 5 press conference.”

Responding to Dong-Ping Wong's criticism of “the long-standing lack of diversity of the + POOL board,” Gabriel Einsohn, PR Advisor to Friends of +POOL, commented that “four of nine board members are women and people of color.” Wh...

New York +POOL creator Dong-Ping Wong says new funding is ‘bittersweet,’ voicing concerns over gentrification and accessibility

2024-01-15T11:36:00-05:00

The long-planned +POOL in New York City has moved a step closer to realization, with Governor Kathy Hochul’s office announcing the allocation of $16 million for the project. Originally conceived in 2010, the scheme is designed as a self-filtering, plus sign-shaped pool in New York's rivers.

Reacting to news of the funding, project inventor and designer Dong-Ping Wong commended the city and state’s commitment to the project, along with the “tireless work of the organization and collaborators after years of pushing.” However, the architect also described the news as “bittersweet,” and expressed concerns that the project may have departed from the ethos that conceived it.

“When I started + POOL the goal wasn't to just build a pool,” Wong explained in a statement on Instagram. “The goal was to see if it was possible to make big civic changes to the city from the ground up for places that often get overlooked. When we decided to start a nonprofit in 2015, it was based on the ideal that a...

Sydney is the latest city to pursue a floating pool scheme as it looks to further revitalize its harbor

2021-10-25T19:17:00-04:00

Moore's office commissioned Australia-based Andrew Burges Architects (ABA) to reimagine what Sydney Harbor could look like if there were sections accessible for public swimming. Her proposal mentions that climate change and an increasing population will both change Sydney's makeup in the decades to come, and with green space at a premium, cleaning up the harbor and making it swimmable could be a good way to give residents a way to cool off.

Cities like Copenhagen, which has successfully converted much of its canalway into programmable public park-type spaces, are serving as a model for Sydney and other world metropolises with similar water park-like developments proposed for the near future.

Sydney Harbour has seen shark episodes on and off throughout the past century, leading the cities to install safety netting and a host of harbor-adjacent public pools that are already very popular. The Harbour itself faces a serious flooding threat by mid-century in addition to a cleanup effort that will abate pollution caused by runoff from some of the reclaimed land around the Harbour.

"This vision rests on improving water quality," Sydney's Lord Mayor Clover Moore told CNN. "Some parts of our harbor are highly polluted and cleaning up these waterways so they can be used for recreation and to improve biodiversity will require cooperation across all levels of government."

Related on Archinect: The long-awaited Plus Pool officiall...

The long-awaited Plus Pool officially has a home in the East River

2021-05-10T13:44:00-04:00

Originally conceived in 2010 by design consultants Archie Lee Coates and Jeff Franklin along with architect Dong-Ping Wong, the self-filtering, plus sign-shaped swimming pool will allow New Yorkers to swim legally and safely in the polluted East River for the first time in more than 70 years.

After over 10 years of Kickstarter campaigns, benefit parties, filtration tests, meetings with stakeholders, advisors, and entities, from MTV to Mayor Bill de Blasio, presentations, design awards, board member inclusions, garnering public support, community outreach, and plan adjustments, the Plus Pool plan was progressing steadily until the COVID-19 pandemic halted everything.

However, it looks like the innovative pool is moving forward again. “We have an official confirmation to succeed with the next steps for the project,” says Kara Meyer, Plus Pool’s managing director, in a statement to Curbed. “We have a home. Mayoral candidates are talking about it.”

Going forward, the next major hurdl...

New York City seeks proposals for floating East River public pool

2019-09-20T18:30:00-04:00

[New York City's] Economic Development Corporation is seeking ideas for a floating pool that would filter the water of the East River to allow for safe swimming. A similar idea was first announced in 2010 by the nonprofit +POOL, which has been working with the city for years. The pool would likely be built between the north side of Brooklyn Bridge and the south side of Pier 35 on the Lower East Side, according to a request for expressions of interest.

According to 6sqft, New York City was once home to as many as 15 floating river pools, a tradition that originated in the 1870s.

Proposal submissions are due no later than 5:00 PM on October 4, 2019.

+POOL installation to open at the Ace Hotel in NY next month

2015-01-28T19:38:00-05:00

Since Archinect first mentioned the Family and PlayLab's +POOL in 2011, the initiative has made significant progress toward realizing the world's first water-filtering, floating pool in New York.

After two wildly successful Kickstarter campaigns in 2011 and 2013 along with international acclaim, the non-profit support group Friends of +POOL teamed up with the Ace Hotel in New York to present a free public art installation,“Doing Something Big When No One Asks You To Do Something Big.”

Opening on February 5 at the Ace Hotel Gallery, the interactive installation will visually depict the four years of research and development that led to the creation of the +POOL. The installation will feature floor-to-ceiling wall drawings of the +POOL that explain its design process and reveal its latest discoveries and anecdotes.

All are welcome to the opening reception hosted by +POOL’s founders and board members on February 5 from 7-9 p.m. The exhibition will be open 24/7 until March 1.

Learn more...

+ Pool Needs Your Support

2011-06-20T14:42:00-04:00

We just got news from the guys at Family and The Office of PlayLab, both young design firms in New York, who need your support for their exciting project + Pool, a floating pool in NYC that cleans the river water it sits in - like a giant strainer dropped into the river.

This project is a completely self-initiated project by the two firms. Following the completion of a preliminary engineering feasibility report done with engineers at Arup, they are now preparing to physically test and ultimately build a full-scale working prototype of a section of the pool itself. The designers just launched a 30-day Kickstarter campaign 5 days ago, already raising almost $15,000, and they could certainly use your help (and the help of your friends and their friends) to help to spread the word further.

Here's a more detailed project description of + Pool:

EVERYTHING IS BETTER WITH A POOL

+ Pool is the collaborative initiative of design studios Family and PlayLab to build a floating pool f...