Swimming Pools for Christopher Farr
swimming pools
A collection of rugs for christopher farr
The Work
Swimming Pools is a collection shaped by perception rather than function. Not one pool, but many — borrowed from novels, memory, and architecture — reimagined as sites of restraint, romance, sensuality, opulence, or quiet threat.
Pools exist to serve a purpose. Yet some are never meant to be used.
“Throughout my childhood, my parents spoke of building one. The garden was ready; the logistics seemed minor. The concept was never resolved, and so it never happened. I loved pools once. Over time, that desire faded. I prefer the sea — a river, a lake. Still, I remain drawn to pools as objects: controlled, ornamental, charged with a particular kind of power.” - Rafael Prieto
This body of work reflects on The Great Gatsby, on The Swimmer, on Joan Didion's observations, on the politics embedded in an Olympic pool, on the excess of a small marble basin, on the quiet weight of abandonment — what remains after use, and after intention.
The sketches were made with obsessive detail, fully aware that much would be lost in materialization. That loss is essential.
Ultimately, the work is about re-contextualizing space: the act of walking on water — something present, contained, and visible, yet never fully accessible.
The Documentation
A Pool in the City
A surreal aquatic dream unfolds across the streets of Tribeca. Swimming pool-inspired rugs appear against concrete, opening a tense dialogue between urban grit and moments of distilled stillness.
Framed by sculptural modern furniture and Roman figures, the pieces function as portals — softening the city's geometry while heightening its drama. A deliberately dissonant tableau: water without water. Contrast, texture, and imagination.
Design, Creative Direction, and Art Direction: Savvy Studio