Beneath layers of cracked ceramic tiles and rusted metal railings, the abandoned swimming pool for once-diligent company workers stands as a silent testament to shifting social landscapes

In this empty basin, one can almost hear the echoes of laughter, see the ripples that never truly disappear. It is a place that no longer fulfills its original purpose, yet it occupies a physical and mental space that resonates with the past

Michel Foucault’s notion of heterotopia—those “other” spaces that both mirror and distort prevailing cultural norms—offers a lens through which to examine this forgotten pool. Heterotopias often upset, re-imagine, or hold up a reversed reflection to our ordinary understanding of space and time. Now removed from its function and stripped of daily utility, the deserted pool flickers between memory and dream, rupture and continuity

In its prime, the pool was a locus of leisure, a controlled environment designed to refresh bodies under the auspices of corporate paternalism. Time there was segmented, pinned to lunch breaks, off-hours, or designated company picnics—a microcosm of measured industry. Yet in its disuse, the pool’s temporal framework has shifted. We no longer measure minutes by the length of a swim break; rather, the pool has become an enduring moment outside the normal flow of corporate clockwork. It belongs neither fully to the past nor the present, but exists in a liminal, heterotopic realm of disjointed possibilities

We see vestiges of corporate order—safety signs, uniform gridlines—struggling to remain relevant while nature creeps in through cracks in the floor. Paradoxically, this forsaken pool can also reveal how spaces that once bound workers to a certain routine might now serve as a quiet form of resistance or reflection. By virtue of abandonment, the rigid structure of scheduled leisure dissolves. In its place arises an open question about the meaning of such spaces in our lives: if they once served as a symbol of corporate care or control, what do they signify when left to disintegrate?

Heterotopias, as Foucault observes, hold up a mirror that reflects other spaces in unexpected ways. Here, the rusted lifeguard chair, the faded tiles, and the hollow echo of footfalls mirror back to us the fragility of institutions. Each fragment testifies to the transient nature of human systems—how the tides of economic policy, social norms, or business expansions can easily render entire places obsolete

And yet, within this haunted setting arises a curious potential for rebirth. In falling outside standardized use, the site might become a canvas of possibility—a place for art installations, quiet contemplation, or grassroots community gatherings. It becomes an “other” place, neither fully abandoned nor actively functional, suspended between what it was and what it might be

Like all heterotopias, the abandoned pool reveals new dimensions of reflection: the interplay between past and present, utility and obsolescence, corporate oversight and individual experience

In this liminal state, the disused swimming pool for the company’s once-organized workforce does more than hold stagnant water—it holds a mirror to the structures of society, reflecting how even the most regulated spaces can slip away into realms of the unforeseen

The pool invites us to reconsider our relationships to work, leisure, and the architectures we leave behind

By positioning a worker in a boiler suit at the abandoned swimming pool, I show the fading of boundaries between labor and leisure. The coffee cup adorned with the company logo draws attention to the vestiges of corporate identity that linger even when the site is no longer maintained. Meanwhile, the cracked tile in her hands serves as a artifact of the pool’s decay, showing how once-structured spaces—and the promises they represented—can fracture over time. Together, these elements reveal the fragile nature of institutional environments and invite reflection on the forces that shape, then abandon, such places

Printing images of office supplies, machine parts, and company photos onto found kickboards from the abandoned pool serves as a metaphor for the collapsing boundaries between corporate identity and leisure space

By repurposing these relics of recreation with symbols of work, I transformed the kick boards into objects that speak to the interplay of structure and freedom—a core theme in Foucault’s heterotopia

The juxtaposition of once-functional corporate imagery with discarded pieces of swimming equipment underscores how human systems, once meticulously curated, can be reconfigured or rendered obsolete. In this sense, the printed kickboards become mirrors of our socio-economic transitions, calling attention to the ephemeral nature of both labor and leisure and inviting reflection on the factors that shape their intersection

By placing objects together on a photosensitive surface, I create a story without hierarchy. In this case, a story about the factory machines

In this archival aerial photograph, the company’s swimming pool is still in use, offering a glimpse into a time when corporate structures and leisure space intertwined seamlessly. Its once-bustling waters, now merely a distant memory, hint at the impermanent nature of such institutional promises

Between the trees lies the abandoned swimming pool, hidden from view and only visible from above

For the CUF sports club winning was very important

CUf's trophy room