![]() Many of these pools were built during the Great Depression as unemployment relief schemes and were originally designed for bathers who had not been taught to swim or had a fear of waves or sharks. Seeing the different shapes of translucent verdigris side by side gives a sense of how design can work with nature to create something functional, beautiful and long-lasting. One page on the website lays out aerial images of all the pools, from the oldest, Newcastle’s Bogey Hole, built by convicts in 1819, to Yamba’s ocean pool, completed in 1969. When the Wild Edge is finally concluded this year, the website will contain exhaustive technical specifications, gorgeous aerial photographs and interactive 3D models of pools from Yamba in the north to Eden in the south. Nicole Larkin says that through her work on tidal pools she is trying to create a base that other people can use as a springboard. At night in the camper van, she sorted through gigabytes of data and drew sketches. Sometimes she had to race to three or four pools in one day to take advantage of perfect conditions. Like a surfer looking for the perfect wave, she was at the mercy of nature: she needed low tide and light winds to get clear photos. ![]() Larkin’s data collection began in 2017 with what sounds like one of the weirdest beach holidays ever: she packed her laptop and a drone camera and hit the Pacific Highway in a camper van. And all of that is very technical and removed from their magic.” “So it’s important to look at them in a methodical and rigorous manner, because when you’re dealing with planning authorities or councils, you need that research and that rigour to be able to make a very clear and concise point. “We know they’re important and valued by the community,” says Larkin. NSW’s tidal pools have been chronicled extensively from cultural and historical standpoints, but this is the first time they have been mapped using 3D modelling software. The project, which began as part of her master’s in architecture degree, was recognised this week with an alumni award for cultural contribution from the University of Sydney.Īn aerial image of the Blue Pool at Bermagui in New South Wales. She collated a vast amount of data, including lush photographs and online interactive 3D models, with the idea of providing a public resource to help communities and architects preserve existing pools or build new ones. Larkin surveyed 60 of NSW’s ocean and tidal pools, focusing on those facing the ocean to narrow the field down from more than 100. I think other states are seeing the benefits of them and saying, ‘well, maybe we can do this here’.” They’re so iconic and NSW has so many of them. “Maybe it’s Instagram – they’re such seductive things to photograph. ![]() “They’re probably more in the public eye than they’re ever been and I’m not sure what started that,” she says. She is thrilled by the resurgence of interest. The Sydney architect and artist Nicole Larkin has spent the past six years getting to know every inch of NSW’s tidal pools – from rock bed to saltwater surface – for an interactive online database she created called the Wild Edge.
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