CANAL SWIMMER’S CLUB

The Tokyo architecture firm Atelier Bow-Wow is all too familiar with the myriad issues of major cities and limited living spaces. It merges architecture and urbanism seamlessly with art and politics. For Bruges, Atelier Bow-Wow conceived a floating lounge at the confluence of the Spinolarei-Potterierei and Sint-Annarei canals. The venue is designed to provide locals and visitors with a pleasant place to relax, take a refreshing dip in the water, attend lectures, visit exhibitions and put on their own events. Over the past decades, Atelier Bow-Wow has grown into one of the most innovative architecture firms in the world. They are especially well known for their micro homes, which they integrate into the densely populated Japanese capital. Atelier Bow-Wow investigates and infiltrates the urban fabric. It designs buildings and structures that promote human interaction and reinforce existing social relationships. Atelier Bow-Wow used the recent Bruges canal clean-up and the resulting opportunity for swimming as inspiration for its triennial project. The architects designed a multifunctional floating platform that provides a venue for a variety of social activities. Members of Bruges’ swimming clubs can use the sculpture’s pontoons as starting and finishing points for competitions. But the platform also offers opportunities for lectures, exhibitions and recreation. In short, a multipurpose space in the heart of the city that rocks to the rhythm of the waters. Typical for their practice, Bow-Wow chose a pragmatic approach to the project that reorients the existing urban environment in a sustainable manner. This platform was contstructed in collaboration with architectural firm Dertien12.