Swimming in Suburbia

Placing a public program in Big Box Land.

Christiansburg, VA.

Perched upon a small rise in the midst of a new suburban landscape occupied by K-mart, Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Lowe’s, and an abandoned strip mall, this 25m public swimming pool sits near the local post office and DMV. An existing row of trees forms one edge of the grassy site, often used as a car park for a nearby auto dealership. This project asked how previous studio investigations of rural terrain (with Professor Pia Sarpaneva) might relate to a public program in a retail landscape.