Inside the Fake Swimming Pool Art Installation That Tricks Your Eyes
At first glance, it looks like a classic turquoise pool: still water, tiled edges, a familiar rectangle of blue. Then you notice something impossible. People are standing at the bottom of this fake swimming pool art installation, fully dressed, apparently breathing and chatting beneath the water’s surface. They look up. You look down. And your sense of what’s real slips for a moment.
This is The Swimming Pool, a permanent illusion by Argentine artist Leandro Erlich at the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa, Japan. More than a visual trick, this transparent glass swimming pool installation turns a simple architectural form into a playful, mind-bending stage where viewers become part of the artwork itself.
What Is Leandro Erlich’s Swimming Pool?
The Swimming Pool is a contemporary art installation created in 2004 for the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art Kanazawa. It is often called a fake swimming pool because it behaves like one visually, but not physically. From the museum courtyard, it appears to be a full, deep pool of shimmering water. In reality, it is a carefully engineered structure that only uses a thin layer of real water.
The work has become one of the museum’s most iconic attractions. Its appeal crosses age and background: children respond to the magic of the illusion, adults recognise the conceptual depth, and design lovers appreciate the precision of the construction. The piece is permanent, so it has also become a kind of landmark in the world of contemporary art installation in Japan, particularly for visitors interested in immersive, perception-based works.
Even if you have seen photos of the Leandro Erlich swimming pool, the live experience feels different. Being present in the space, watching strangers interact across the “water,” creates a subtle tension between what your eyes insist is happening and what your body knows to be true.
How the Illusion Swimming Pool Artwork Actually Works
The secret behind this illusion swimming pool artwork lies in an elegant layering of materials. Instead of filling a deep basin with water, Erlich and the museum team designed a chamber with an aquamarine interior, mimicking the familiar color of a real pool. Above this chamber, they installed thick transparent glass strong enough to span the opening and safely support the weight above.
On top of the glass sits a very shallow layer of real water, only about 10 centimeters deep. This is the crucial detail. That thin sheet is just enough to catch reflections, distort light, and create the rippling patterns our brains immediately associate with a full pool. The eye reads depth where there is almost none, because the language of light and color is so convincing.
The Structure: Dimensions, Materials, and Design Logic
The Swimming Pool is built at the scale of a real domestic pool, with a footprint of roughly 4 by 7 meters and a depth approaching 3 meters. This sizing matters. If the installation were much smaller, it might feel like a model. At this scale, your body recognises the space as architecturally plausible, which makes the fake swimming pool art installation more convincing.
The main materials are concrete, glass, and water. Concrete shapes the pool walls and surrounding deck, giving the piece that robust, permanent feeling you associate with outdoor pools. The interior of the chamber is finished in an aquamarine tone, echoing the color of pool plaster or tiles seen through water. The thick glass panel spans the opening, engineered to hold the water layer and resist the loads of people gathering above.
This combination of solid, familiar building materials with a very thin layer of water underlines the central theme: what looks heavy and deep can sometimes be light and shallow, and vice versa. The design works because every detail supports the illusion, from the exact shade of blue to the clarity of the glass and the proportions of the basin.
From Surprise to Understanding: The Visitor’s Journey
Erlich structured the experience of the piece as a kind of unfolding narrative. Most people first encounter the installation from above, moving through the museum’s public zone and glancing down into what seems like a regular courtyard pool. The first surprise comes when they notice people “inside” it, talking, taking photos, or waving back.
Once visitors understand something unusual is happening, curiosity takes over. They often seek out the route into the chamber below, accessible from the museum’s exhibition zone. Entering this lower space flips the perspective. Now you are the person at the bottom of the pool, looking up through the wavering surface. You can make eye contact with people leaning over the rail, gesture to them, and share the joke of the illusion.
This shift from onlooker to participant is central to the artwork. You move from observing the strange scene to becoming part of it, which changes the way you think about your own role in an art installation. You are not only a viewer; you are also what others have come to see.
Unchanged: via leandroerlich.com.ar