As the chill in the air ebbs away and is replaced with the scent of spring blossom, the idea of swimming outdoors seems reasonable once again. Surely on every swimmer’s bucket list is Joana Vasconcelos’ spectacular Gateway, an artwork to bathe in: a fully functioning, nine-metre diameter pool made with 13,000 scintillating hand-painted, hand-glazed Viúva Lamego tiles, made exclusively for the Portuguese artist. Vasconcelos is renowned for her collaborative works with artisans and craftspeople, incorporating a variety of craft techniques into her practice in her Lisbon studio. The Gateway pool is surrounded by a lush, landscaped garden at Jupiter Artland, Scotland. The pool is open daily and public swim sessions are available to book for £15.

Gateway was created to coincide with the artist’s 2019 exhibition at Jupiter Artland, which also marked the tenth anniversary of the contemporary sculpture garden located just outside Edinburgh. Fully embracing the spiritual potential of communing and immersing in water, the pool was deliberately constructed along Ley lines, said to intersect across the site of Jupiter Artland, believed to channel earthly energy. The design of the pool was also based on the artist’s astrological charts.

Vasconcelos said of the work: “Gateway is a big splash that invites the public to immerse in a joyful and spirited dimension, leading to a connection with the energy of the Earth. It’s like a threshold to another universe that we’re not conscious of but through which we can flow.”

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