Bodies of Water: The 10 Most Beautiful Public Pools From Around the World

Famed for his exuberantly psychedelic palette, curvaceous forms and penchant for experimentation, Danish architect and designer Verner Panton created this insanely kaleidoscopic pool for employees in the basement of the Der Spiegel’s Hamburg publishing house in 1969. The rest of the office is a similarly glorious exercise in retina-searing hues. The last gasp of the ’60s is orgasmically expressed in a kind of aqua disco, with nothing left to the imagination. Possibly the only thing missing is a glitter ball. Sadly, the pool was destroyed in a fire, but Panton’s other riotous interiors still endure, now lovingly preserved as national treasures.

Named after a famous coach of the French women’s swimming team, this 50m-long (164ft) pool is in a cavernous concrete grotto in Les Halles, the subterranean shopping centre and transport interchange in the heart of Paris. For comparison, imagine the improbable scenario of an Olympic-scale pool buried deep underneath London’s Oxford Circus. Designed by French architect Paul Chemetov in 1985, who had a thing about megastructures, the concrete pool cave is surprisingly light and airy, illuminated by daylight reflected into its depths by a cunningly designed winter garden. This is a hidden Parisian gem well worth seeking out.