The recent infrastructure bills initiated by the United States political administration, has spawned a national debate on what should be included in infrastructural public funding.  Should public money be used exclusively for the conventional physical matter of roads and bridges, or be broadened to include the upkeep of the social, recreational, and the care programs often neglected in our cities. The urban pool sits directly in the center of this conversation. Aquatic spaces and natatorium have proven over several generations and throughout history as a space that provides important life and recreational programming vital to the release of tension within the city. The Aqua Infra symposium sponsored by the Pratt School of Architecture and NYC Parks brings together members of public administration, architectural historians, design researchers, and young designers to focus on the future of this critical piece of social and physical infrastructure of the city.

Jonathan Scelsa is an Architect, Urbanist, and Educator. He is a founding partner of the New York based practice, OP - Architecture Landscape, which operates in between the oppositions of Architecture and Landscape resulting in design solutions that strive to dis-integrate the subject-object relationship conventionally established between the two disciplines.

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