re-adjusting the icelandic pool society
the social value of water
Working in a design team of international students from different professional backgrounds, our research set out to explore the social value of water in Iceland and Icelanders’ relationship with water.
project phases:
1. sociographic inquiry
Swimming pools are the most popular gathering places in Reykjavík, the Icelandic capital. Despite its rather small population of around 130.000 inhabitants, every neighborhood in Reykjavik has its own public swimming pool. Inofficially functioning as community centers, the swimming pools play a major role in the everyday lives of the Icelanders.
2. field research
Our participatory field observations suggest that the Icelandic swimming pools could be culturally more inclusive since the diversity in Iceland is growing and different needs for example within the personal space of different cultures need to be considered.
3. rapid prototyping
Asking ourselves how the Icelandic pool society could develop into a more socially sustainable direction, we worked on rapid prototypes of future scenarios that could invite a broader public into the pools. Combining extremely basic prototyping methods with actual data of current and future developments, we played around looking for possibilities that would sustain traditional values and answer current and future needs.
4. co-creation session
We refined our hitherto assumptions and ideas in a workshop with group of Icelandic teenagers with diverse cultural backgrounds as they embodied an interesting dichotomy between adaption and awkwardness considering these bodily issues.
