Now open on the edge of Aarhus, Denmark’s second-largest city, the Harbor Bath project features a main 150-foot-long pool as well as diving and children’s pools, plus a pair of saunas. Naturally, the water is drawn directly in from the surroundings.

Designed by architects from Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) — images by Rasmus Hjortshøj — the complex can support up to 650 bathers at one time. Various pool sizes are elegantly integrating into the tapering form, creating poolside areas as well as swimming and lounging spaces.

Essentially a fake floating island, the structure is further supported by an array of beach volleyball courts, cafes and bars along the adjacent edge of the city.

Future plans call for theaters, hotels, restaurants, shops and more to be developed in the area, making this project a seed or generator of sorts for nearby activity, open all day every day through the summer.

In Japan, an island nation, waves are symbols long found in a vast array of art, design and craft from around the country, which one author decided to systemize in a three-book series now available for free online.

Myriad ancient wave and ripple examples were carefully compiled and catalogued in black ink by little-known artist Mori Yuzan just over a hundred years ago, detailing different motifs and patterns for other creators and craftspeople to emulate

The sheer variety of waves in these volumes alone is mesmerizing, all fitting into a style yet representing various applications as borders, backgrounds and design details suitable for all sorts of applications..

These Nihonga style (Japanese painting) graphics, typically applied to Japanese washi paper with brushes, can also be applied to anything from everyday ceramics to religious objects, swords, scrolls and wall art.

Perhaps the most famous application of waves remains the Great Wave of Kanagawa, a classic image from the 1800s featuring an enormous wave threatening boats off the coast of the present-day city of Yokohama. While sometimes assumed to be a tsunami, the wave is more likely to be a large rogue wave. As in many of the prints in the series, it depicts the area around Mount Fuji under particular conditions, and the mountain itself appears in the background.

Following the Meiji Restoration in 1868, Japan ended a long period of national isolation and became open to imports from the West. In turn, much Japanese art came to Europe and America and quickly gained popularity. The influence of Japanese art on Western culture became known as Japonism. Japanese woodblock prints became a source of inspiration for artists in many genres, particularly the Impressionists. Hokusai was seen as the emblematic Japanese artist and images from his prints and books influenced many different works.

A fresh new type of park-on-the-water in Rotterdam is turned plastic trash that once polluted the area into a series of hexagonal pods now open to the public. The design is built to scale, too — more units can be added as more waste is recovered.

The floating landscape is meant to raise awareness, but also provides a practical resting spot for people, as well as a refuge and breeding ground for snails, flatworms, beatles and fish — each pod has its on purpose, be it benches for humans or soil for plants and animals.

The artificial island chain was built by the Recycled Island Foundation, an organization that takes trash from the mouths of rivers using litter traps and reuses what they can. These traps are designed to catch and keep what passes by, even as the currents of the rivers change.

“When we retrieve the plastics directly in our cities and ports we actively prevent the further growth of the plastic soup in our seas and oceans. The realization of the building blocks in recycled plastics is an important step towards a litter free river.”

A new first-of-its-kind underwater art museum in the Maldives features exhibits and sculptures at various levels, from the seabed through the intertidal waterline and up to the skyline, designed to be exposed and submerged to different degrees.

More than just an aesthetic endeavor, however, the project by environmental artist Jason Decaires Taylor is engineered to support the regrowth of endangered coral populations and other local marine wildlife. It’s the island’s first regeneration project, addressing a real need while also raising regional awareness.

The outer shell is a permeable, stainless steel structure, with some above-water sculptures placed on top. Below, divers can visit works made of marine-grade cement that will, over time, become covered as sealife attaches to it.

Visitors will be able to follow a path from the shore along which they can explore local sea life in the shallows before reaching the museum, a symbolic journey from land to low water and into the deep beyond.

The intentionally porous frame of the main museum building allows in even large fish, while also providing a tidal break to help shelter any creatures who choose to take up residence (or simply find temporary refuge) within.

Marine steel mirrors and mimics surrounding sea blues, and will ultimately also reflect the greens of the natural algae bound to accumulate as this seed structure naturally changes and grows in response to its environment.

Built at and launched from a local boatyard, this mobile park prototype (or: “parkipelago”) is the first of a series of floating platforms designed to provide recreational space for kayakers, swimmers, sunbathers and event space for small gatherings and public lectures.

Created Australian architect Marshall Blecher and Danish designer Magnus Maarbjerg, the first wooden platform in the set is just over 200 square feet and features a single linden tree at its center.

Nine other Copenhagen Islands will join it out in the water soon, each offering something unique, including a diving board, stage, sauna and cafe. They can also be joined for special events, connected to create one larger integrated structure.

“It was developed to introduce life and activity to Copenhagen’s rapidly developing harbour and to bring back some of the whimsy that has been lost in its development,” explain the designers. They hope their work can also inspire similar projects in other cities. Aptly, one of the first planned activities for this initial micro-park will be a lecture on creative urban design strategies.

“My hometown of Sydney has an enormous and beautiful harbour, but it is dominated by waterside mansions and rows of underused white yachts,” says Blecher. “Projects like this could help democratise harbours and bring some life back onto the water.” And in big, bustling cities without sufficient park space, the water offers a ready source of square footage that often goes underutilized.

The first stage of the project was funded by the Danish arts fund (Statenskunstfond) and Havnekulturpuljen, an organisation that promotes and cultural activities within the harbor. Blecher and Maarbjerg are working with the Danish arts fund and other not-for profit groups to fund the next stage of development. Images by Christian Emdal and drone photos by Airflix.