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L’invention de la piscine comme équipement urbain résulte, d’abord, d’une clarification d’une pratique de loisir – la baignade – dont le XIXe siècle développe la double dimension hygiénique (bain et douche) et sportive (natation). C’est le milieu éducatif qui, dès les années 1870-1880 crée les premiers bassins de natation excavés et découverts. Durant la décennie suivante, l’expansion du commerce des loisirs multiplie les bassins chauffés et couverts qu’une implantation urbaine assure d’une clientèle régulière et d’un chauffage économique d’origine industrielle. Au lendemain de l’armistice, la reconnaissance du sport moderne favorise l’évolution du type architectural (avec cuves de béton et circuit hygiénique). La piscine apparaît alors, parfois, comme l’élément d’organisation spatiale d’ensembles urbains, fruits du mariage fécond d’un hygiénisme édilitaire et d’architectures urbaines. Au-delà des variations formelles qu’autorise ce nouveau matériau, l’esthétique des piscines des années trente bénéficie des progrès des produits céramiques qui imposent leur effet décoratif et leur utilité (en matière d’hygiène et d’étanchéité). Tout un ensemble décoratif (céramique, vitrail, métaux chromés) contribue à exprimer, à travers l’architecture des piscines, un art de vivre moderne emprunt d’urbanité sportive.

Swimming pools and cities A new urban facility, the public swimming bath, appeared when a leisure activity – bathing – became codified. In the nineteenth century it took on its dual function, providing hygiene (baths and showers) and an opportunity for sport (swimming). As early as the 1870s and 1880s educationalists created the first hollowed-out open-air swimming pools. During the following decade the expansion of the leisure business multiplied the number of heated indoor pools, which benefited from regular customers and economical industrial heating thanks to urbanization. After World War One modern sport occupied an acknowledged position, thus encouraging an evolution in the specific design of swimming baths (with concrete pools and hygienic routes for bathers). The swimming baths sometimes appeared as an element of spatial organisation of buildings in the city; the result of a fruitful accord between town councillors’ concerns with hygienics and the needs of urban architecture. In addition to the stylistic variations which this new material made possible, the design of swimming baths in the 1930s benefited from innovations in ceramic products. The latter became a prime aesthetic feature due to their decorative impact and their pratical value (hygienic and waterproof). All the elements of decoration (ceramics, stained glass and chromium) combined to express a modern art of living graced by the courtesies of sport, through the architectural design of the public swimming baths.