In September 2000, architect Paulo Mendes da Rocha proposed something both possible and impossible: covering the Praça da República in downtown São Paulo with a suspended pool-beach. This provocative gesture challenges latent societal issues: the right to leisure, idleness, celebration, hygiene, self-care, sociability, entertainment, and the body. "Canteens, machine-locker rooms, and ramps" are nearly all the words that permeate this narrative project and inspire our workshop.
