Everyday reality puts very strict limits on the functionality of everyday objects, but art hardly ever knows of such limitations. The Pool Bus, perhaps one of the most obviously-named objet d'art out there, is a brilliant example in this sense.
The Pool Bus is, as you might have already guessed, a bus that's also a functional pool.
It's a 2019 work by French artist Benedetto Bufalino, a man who made a name for himself for specializing in "hacking" everyday objects to create the most surprising functionality for them, playing with our perception – and preconception – of them.
In this particular case, we're talking about taking a standard bus and turning it into a functional public pool. Better yet, a functional, public, mobile pool.
Photo: Benedetto Bufalino
Recent years have seen a lot of talk and even more action towards sustainability. Even larger companies, including automotive giants, have started incorporating the principles of the three Rs (Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle) into their production facilities, faced with the harsh reality of the need to cut down carbon emissions, waste, and pollution.
Upcycling is another way in which waste can be reduced, and this is where The Pool Bus might fit in just perfectly. Upcycling is more of a small-scale effort to combat the ills of modern living, where you take a used, sometimes trashed item and repurpose it with an artsy touch. In Bufalino's hands, that means buying a bus from the junkyard and turning it into a public pool.
Bufalino is known for feats of this type, so to him, this kind of surprising upcycling must come as a second nature.
Photo: Benedetto Bufalino
He's quite famous on the Old Continent for vehicular "stunts" like this one. He also seems to have a soft spot for rolling pools of varying sizes: before The Pool Bus, he applied the same treatment to a Seat Ibiza, which became a very quirky two-person pool (an enlarged tub, more like it) and a travel trailer that became a pool that could fit the entire family.
Bufalino's portfolio is filled with countless other awesome and occasionally LOL-inducing conversions. There's a JCB digger whose cabin was turned into an aquarium and an old-fashioned telephone cabin that's been given the same purpose.
There's a Ford Mondeo that lives a second life as a wood-burning pizza oven, a Peugeot 206 Sport converted into a ping pong table, a police patrol car converted into a kitchen coop, and another one that became a barbecue grill. A Bufalino concrete mixer is actually a giant disco ball, and there's also a Bufalino flying carpet and a rolling house – both probably the opposite of what you're thinking as you're reading this.
Photo: Benedetto Bufalino
The Pool Bus was unveiled in August 2019 and spent the summer and part of the following fall traveling to various locations in France. It started out as a Tadao bus used for public transport in the Artois region, hauled to the junkyard at the end of its lifecycle, and bought by Bufalino for the conversion.
The conversion saw it stripped of its original functionality, and that part should probably come as no surprise. Local development agency Euralens and specialized engineers helped with the conversion, which resulted in a colorful pool that can fit up to 10 swimmers at a time and even integrates a lifeguard platform for safety reasons.
The pool is 2.3 meters wide, 9 meters long, and 1.5 meters deep (7.5 by 29.5 by 4.9 feet). To make room for it, the interior and the wiring of the bus were stripped, and the vehicle turned on its side and fitted with a custom swimming pool shell that allows it to hold water.
Photo: Benedetto Bufalino
During the initial installations that year, The Pool Bus offered water between 27°C and 29°C (80.6°F and 84.2°F), a nearby changing cabin and restrooms, and a wooden walkway. The installation was free to use by whoever signed up for it on-site, by filling out a form. However, there was a 30-minute limit to how long you could swim in it – again, an unsurprising condition given how popular it turned out to be.
The pool hasn't been used in a while, having been put into storage during the international health crisis of 2020. In his most recent social media post, dated March 2023, Bufalino says that it's getting ready "for new exposure," without going into specifics. The artist is also known for recycling his old work: he's a fan of recycling the upcycling projects he's done already, if you'll allow the phrasing. Sadly, The Pool Bus won't be one of those, having been sold on a second-hand site for a symbolic €1 ($1.09) later that year.
If you think of all those buses converted into mobile homes or even super-fancy glamping pods we've been covering these past three years or more, The Pool Bus is far from the most functional upcycling project out there. But it's definitely the most fun way to raise awareness on the need to be a tad more responsible about our waste.
Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends. Full profile
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