Plus Pool
| Plus Pool | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Commercial? | No |
| Type of project | Public swimming pool |
| Location | East River, New York City |
| Founder | Dong-Ping Wong, Oana Stănescu, Archie Lee Coates IV, Jeffrey Franklin[1] |
| Established | June 2010 |
| Launched | 2025 Manhattan - Lower East Side - Pier 35 |
| Funding | New York State, Crowdfunded via Kickstarter |
| Website | www |
Plus Pool (often stylized as "+ POOL") is an initiative started in 2010 to create an innovative, floating swimming pool on the East River in New York City. Architect Dong-Ping Wong developed the concept of a floating pool that would filter river water to supply clean water for the pool. The pool is planned to be located at Pier 35 in the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
Concept
[edit]Plus Pool was designed to both clean the waters of the East River and provide a public space for water-based recreation.[2] The pool's name comes from the fact that it would be shaped like a plus sign. The original design called for four separate pools (lounge, kids', watersports, and lap-swimming pools). The separate smaller pools can be combined into one large pool with an area of around 9,000 square feet (840 m2), and also can be configured into a lap pool with several lanes.[3][4]
Plus Pool was designed to filter up to one million gallons of river water each day through its custom, chemical free, layered filtration system.[5][6] Over 250,000 gallons of the river water surrounding the pool will become safe, clean, filtered water used to fill the pool.[7] The pool was designed to contain 285,500 U.S. gallons (1,081,000 L; 237,700 imp gal) of water and to filter from 600,000 U.S. gallons (2,300,000 L; 500,000 imp gal) up to 1,000,000 U.S. gallons (3,800,000 L; 830,000 imp gal) per day.[3][8][9]
History
[edit]Prior to 2013
[edit]Beginning in the 19th century, New York City has had as many as 15 'floating baths' moored along the Hudson and East Rivers.[4] A floating pool known as the 'Floating Pool Lady' was created at Brooklyn Bridge Park in 2007 and continues to operate in Barretto Point Park in the Bronx. Plus Pool was designed to use water directly from the East River, filtering it to make it safe for swimming, which is unique from previous floating pools.[10][11][12]
In 2010, Dong-Ping Wong of Family New York (now known as Food New York) designed a plus-shaped floating pool with the idea that it could filter river water through its walls. He asked Jeffrey Franklin and Archie Lee Coates IV of PlayLab to initially help create a website and booklet to raise support for the project and soon the three decided to be co-founders. Family New York led the strategy, architecture and engineering while PlayLab led the branding and communication. In 2011, the two companies began a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter to raise money for Plus Pool, a innovative pool design, utilizing a custom filtering system as a clean water source for a floating pool on the East River.[2]
In July 2011, the team raised over $41,000 on Kickstarter to test filtration materials using water from the East River.[13] Originally, the goal was to raise a total of $15 million to fund a completely functioning pool by 2016.[5][14][15]
2013–present
[edit]In July 2013, with the help of a feasibility study by Columbia University, over a quarter million dollars was raised to build a 35-square-foot (3.3 m2) miniature version of the floating pool.[16][17] The "test lab" was a working prototype to analyze its effectiveness in river conditions.[5] Since its inception, several independent companies have participated the project, including the engineering firm, Arup,[17][18] design firm IDEO, environmental consultants from One Nature, and Storefront for Art and Architecture.[19][20] The project also garnered interest from government officials, notably New York State Senator Daniel Squadron and New York City Council Member Brad Lander.[21][22] In November 2013, Time magazine named Plus Pool as one of the 25 best inventions of the year 2013.[10][23]
In 2015, a nonprofit organization known as Friends of +Pool was created to oversee the pool's development.[3][24] Plus Pool was originally projected to open by the summer of 2016, but the project saw little development at that point.[15] In 2017, Plus Pool formed a partnership with the Heineken brewing company. The team created a promotional video for Plus Pool, narrated by Neil Patrick Harris, to revitalize public interest in the project.[25][26] The pool's sponsors also applied for a provisional patent in 2017 and an international patent the next year.[3] In 2019, the founders of Plus Pool introduced a light sculpture in the East River. Funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, Heineken and the Howard Hughes Corporation, the sculpture changes colors based on water conditions. The system and the algorithm behind it was developed by scientists at Columbia University and developers and designers at the tech firm Reaktor.[27]
In 2021, New York City approved a location for Plus Pool just north of the Manhattan Bridge on the Lower East Side. The team proceeded to work on regulatory thresholds for the river and pool bathers.[9][10][28]
On January 5, 2024, New York Governor, Kathy Hochul announced that a joint effort by the state and New York City would fund a combined $16 million to the Plus Pool project as part of the governor's NY SWIMS initiative. Testing of the filtration system began in August, 2024 on a barge at Pier 35. Once the initial testing is complete, a small scale version of Plus Pool would be built for final tests during 2025, with a full version scheduled to be opened to the public in 2026.[29][30][31][32][33][8][34]
References
[edit]- ^ "+POOL Team". +POOL. Retrieved November 13, 2013.
- ^ a b Matarese, Jennifer (July 6, 2011). "Designers plan floating pool for East or Hudson River". WABC-TV, ABC News. Archived from the original on June 17, 2013. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
- ^ a b c d Barandy, Kat (August 9, 2024). "New York City's Self-filtering +Pool to Open at Pier 35 Near Lower East Side Manhattan". designboom. Archived from the original on August 15, 2024. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
- ^ a b Towey, Hannah (January 19, 2024). "A New Floating Pool Will Reclaim NYC's Rivers For Public Swimming". Condé Nast Traveler. Archived from the original on July 27, 2024. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
- ^ a b c Willett-Wei, Megan (June 17, 2013). "A Floating Pool In New York's East River Is Getting Closer To Reality". Business Insider. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
- ^ "A New Floating Pool Will Reclaim NYC's Rivers For Public Swimming". Condé Nast Traveler. January 19, 2024. Archived from the original on April 22, 2024. Retrieved April 23, 2024.
- ^ Griffith, Eric (June 21, 2013). "Kickstarter Tech Project of the Week: +POOL". PC Magazine. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
- ^ a b Palumbo, Jacqui (August 15, 2024). "New York City is one step closer to getting its long-awaited floating East River pool". CNN. Archived from the original on August 19, 2024. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
- ^ a b Hills, Megan C. (May 20, 2021). "New York greenlights floating public pool on the East River". CNN. Archived from the original on July 18, 2022. Retrieved July 18, 2022.
- ^ a b c Swanson, Carl (May 7, 2021). "First Look: The Plus Pool's Future East River Home". Curbed. Archived from the original on August 19, 2024. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
- ^ Weaver, Shaye (June 4, 2021). "NYC's only floating pool is back in the East River for the summer". Time Out New York. Archived from the original on October 26, 2021. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
- ^ Chan, Sewell (July 5, 2007). "A Short History of Brooklyn's Floating Pool". City Room. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
- ^ Rutkoff, Aaron (June 24, 2011). "An East River Pool? Maybe This Idea Isn't Off the Deep End". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on June 16, 2013. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
- ^ El Nasser, Haya (May 1, 2013). "Crowdfunding gives rise to projects truly in public domain". USA Today. Archived from the original on July 22, 2013. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
- ^ a b Sisak, Michael R. (April 23, 2014). "When does Plus Pool open?". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on August 30, 2014. Retrieved August 12, 2014.
- ^ Brooks, Katherine (July 12, 2013). "Floating Pool Project Is Fully Funded And New Yorkers Everywhere Should Celebrate". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on July 17, 2013. Retrieved July 18, 2013.
- ^ a b Solon, Olivia (June 17, 2011). "Plus Pool: The floating swimming pool proposed for NYC's river". Wired. Archived from the original on August 17, 2013. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
- ^ Mathias, Christopher (June 16, 2011). "+ Pool Team Starts Kickstarter Project To Make East River Floating Pool A Reality". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on June 18, 2013. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
- ^ "+Pool". Storefront for Art and Architecture. Archived from the original on May 25, 2013. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
- ^ "+Pool on crowdfunding architecture". Arup Connect. Arup. Archived from the original on August 6, 2013. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
- ^ Polsky, Sara (January 4, 2011). "Brooklyn Bridge Park's Floating Pool Gets a Boost". Curbed. Archived from the original on September 19, 2015. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
- ^ "+POOL Timeline". +POOL. Archived from the original on November 13, 2013. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
- ^ "The 25 Best Inventions of the Year 2013 Read more: The Plus Pool". Time. November 14, 2013. Archived from the original on November 17, 2013. Retrieved November 17, 2013.
- ^ Eberhardt, Ellen (January 19, 2024). ""I was frozen out" of + Pool project says architect Dong-Ping Wong". Dezeen. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
- ^ Walker, Ameena (April 25, 2017). "New York's +POOL hopes to shore up public support with new campaign". Curbed. Archived from the original on August 19, 2024. Retrieved May 11, 2017.
- ^ Warerkar, Tanay (August 4, 2017). "Neil Patrick Harris voices new +Pool hype video, and it's kind of awesome". Curbed NY. Archived from the original on January 10, 2024. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
- ^ Kurutz, Steven (October 5, 2019). "New Yorkers Will Have to Wait for an East River Pool (Published 2019)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
- ^ Gleason, Will (May 10, 2021). "This spectacular floating pool now has a home in the East River". Time Out New York. Archived from the original on May 10, 2021. Retrieved May 10, 2021.
- ^ Offenhartz, Jake (January 6, 2024). "Opening in 2025: A floating pool in the East River?". NBC New York. Archived from the original on January 9, 2024. Retrieved January 9, 2024.
- ^ Meko, Hurubie (January 6, 2024). "Floating East River Pool May Open to Public Next Year Under Hochul Plan". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 9, 2024.
- ^ Rahmanan, Anna (January 8, 2024). "A floating pool shaped like a plus sign will actually open in the East River in 2025". Time Out New York. Archived from the original on January 30, 2024. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
- ^ "NYC floating pool: State-of-the-art water facility coming to East River's Pier 35 in Manhattan". ABC7 New York. August 9, 2024. Archived from the original on August 10, 2024. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
- ^ Stark-Miller, Ethan (August 7, 2024). "Manhattan's Pier 35 chosen as location for long-awaited plus-shaped East River swimming pool". amNewYork. Archived from the original on August 19, 2024. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
- ^ Palumbo, Jacqui (August 15, 2024). "New York City is one step closer to getting its long-awaited floating East River pool". CNN. Retrieved September 6, 2024.