Of Soil and Water
Words by Ryan Cheng
This story is presented by Local Peoples.
“[Of Soil and Water] is an art installation intended to contrast the urban and the rural and it turns out that it’s actually quite a pleasant-looking place to go for a swim.”
Alexi Duggins, Time Out
When Marjetica Potrč and Ooze Architects (Eva Pfannes and Sylvain Hartenberg) were approached and commissioned by King’s Cross Central Limited Partnership in 2011 for a public art project, Marjetica tells us it took the collaborators and commissioners some time to settle on an idea to bring to life.
“It actually took us two years to decide on the project, and then another two years to start the construction.”
Set in the heart of the city in the King’s Cross Central development, the team created Of Soil and Water: King’s Cross Pond Club. It was located on a construction site, which they transformed into a micro-ecological environment with a natural swimming pond set in the centre.
The project was realised at the invitation of the RELAY arts program, the curatorial framework for public art projects at the King’s Cross development.
Photo by John Sturrock
“The RELAY curators Stéphanie Delcroix and Michael Pinsky invited us because they liked the process-oriented nature of our collaborations and hoped we would create a community-oriented project.
“At the time, the site was probably the biggest real estate development in the UK, if not in Europe. It was huge. We knew our project was just a small part of the overall development.
“It was important for us to reframe the question as: What is the value of land in the contemporary city?
“We wanted to challenge the idea of viewing land merely as real estate. We proposed that the value of land was the value of its soil and water, two natural resources we depend on every day but usually take for granted.”
Photo by John Sturrock
The transformed site with its natural pond would then be available as a place for visitors to swim throughout the year, with the water being purified through a natural, closed-loop process using submerged aquatic plants.
This allowed the pool to be chemical-free rather than have the undeniable smell of chlorine that you normally have at regular swimming pools.
The natural purifications system also meant there was a limit on the number of swimmers who could be there on any given day.
“For us, it was important to establish rules of engagement for visitors to the pond. This was not the kind of regular public swimming pool that is open to all, but rather a space governed by an agreement between the users and nature.
"A limit was set at 163 swimmers per day. That was the maximum number that still allowed the halophyte plants to clean the water for swimming. The project performed the delicate balance between human activity and natural processes and demonstrated nature’s power of self-generation.”
Photo by Marjetica Potrč
Allowing people to swim in an open body of water was a nod to the long history of wild swimming in London.
Wild swimming refers to the act of swimming in natural waters such as rivers or lakes. In the 1970’s and 1980’s, swimming holes were common meeting places where people would congregate as a community. Today, wild swimming has enjoyed a resurgence, with many people taking to their local lakes and rivers to partake in this age-old pastime.
Surrounded by natural flora and fauna that changed with the season, the project sought to embody this resurgence by reimagining the swimming pool – which would no longer be a stand-alone structure, but a place that engaged in close dialogue with the surrounding nature.
“It was interesting to see how some plants thrived during the project while others didn’t.
“We planted more than 4,200 wild plants, which were partly grown in a greenhouse at a Demeter-certified farm in Germany. Some of the plants were seeded. Rita Breker-Kremer and Stefanie Strauss, both expert gardeners in biodynamic planting, were involved in this part of the project.
“The environment created by the plants was amazing. I’m talking about beautiful flowering plants, butterflies and other insects, with the changes of the seasons reflected in the lush landscape. This was a biodiverse ecosystem that invited you to engage with it.”
And indeed, rooted in strong social and environmental principles, Of Soil and Water soon developed its own passionate and engaged community.
“When we started the project, the area was a huge construction site, with no residential community for us to work with. Over time, however, the project brought together local residents as well as visitors from all over London and beyond. Railway workers would take a pre-work swim in the early morning.
“It really was a community from all walks of life.”
"This was not the kind of regular public swimming pool that is open to all, but rather a space governed by an agreement between the users and nature. ”
"Informal settlements cannot be considered a marginal urban condition..."
For Eva Pfannes – one of the partners at Ooze – there was a vulnerability to be found at the pond. “What I love about pools is that everybody strips off all the layers … No matter where we come from, we’re almost naked – we become the same.”
When it was time for the temporary art project to close, the community that had formed around the pond rallied in an effort to keep it.
“Over time the users started to own it; they were really passionate about it,” Marjetica explains.
“When it was announced that the project was closing, the community started the Save KX Pond campaign. It was organized on social media, and there were a number of articles in the press about it. It was even discussed at a local council meeting.
“Interestingly enough, the pond’s supporters made a plan to reorganize the project as a community-run public space. The petition to keep the project going was signed by 5,000 people. In the end, however, it proved impossible to make the project permanent.
“As you know, a public is created around an issue.
“In the case of the project Of Soil and Water, this issue was the creation of value. The project exposed and celebrated several values: value of natural resources such as soil and water, the value of a biodiverse ecosystem – which the community insisted should be preserved at a different location even after the pond closed – and the value of humans’ dependence on nature.
“We considered the Of Soil and Water project as a ‘nature theatre’ – the stage of the Anthropocene.”
Photo by John Sturrock
For Marjetica, the participatory nature of the project is clear in retrospect.
“We started the project with no community. And we’re very pleased that not only did a community form around the project but that they fought for it to stay – they fought for the values the project revealed. These values resonated with people in the surrounding neighbourhoods and with the larger public.
“It goes to show that if you do things correctly, a project can become a successful participatory endeavour that engages local residents in city-building. The care and stewardship you put into the project expands from a small world to the larger world. The ownership that the swimmers felt towards the site expands to a feeling of ownership of the city.”
Of Soil and Water was, in a sense, a living organism able to restore itself amidst the contemporary city’s constant change.
It was also a symbol of human responsibility towards nature: that with measure, consideration, and humility, people can participate in a mutually beneficial partnership with nature.