Lifeguard tower
Encyclopedia
Lifeguard towers are used to watch and supervise swimmers in order to prevent drowning
s and other dangers. Lifeguards scan for trouble from the structures, which vary from beach
bungalow
s by the ocean
to poolside
towers. Lifeguard towers are also used to spot sharks and other threats.
The towers have featured in television shows including Baywatch
. Their construction is sometimes paid for with fundraisers, and their operation and staffing is subject to funding availability. Design contests have challenged architects to offer their visions of the structures.
Reggie Jones, 77 and the "oldest lifeguard at Jones Beach
" in 2004 reflected on the beach's history and his work, "From his wooden lifeguard tower." He remembered, "when everything was closed on Sundays -- the blue laws -- and most families had one car and there were no downtown shopping malls. For 25 cents you got in the car and took the kids to the beach. This was the poor man's Riviera." He wore the "itchy" one-piece woolen lifeguard suit "instead of the Tommy Hilfiger trunks that are today's standard issue." Fashions of beachgoers also changed with "The girls are wearing dental floss" as opposed to the dresses that he remembered being worn. Jones Beach gets more visitors annually than Yellowstone and Yosemite combined with 8 million people visiting in 2003, a steep drop from the 13.3 million who visited in 1970.
Architect Frank Gehry
designed a lifeguard tower into a house as part of a remodel in Venice Beach, California
in 1985.
In 1988 a gallery commissioned "14 of the world's best-known architects to design lifeguard towers, those familiar fixtures that protect lifeguards from the elements and provide landmarks to help swimmers remember where they put their towels." The designers included Stanley Tigerman
, Michael Graves
, Richard Meier
, Charles Moore
, Aldo Rossi
, Hans Hollein
, Antoine Predock
and Cesar Pelli
and were given specifications including 360-degree visibility, vandal-proofing and other requirements as well as a hypothetical budget of $17,000 for their designs. The "superstar" West Coast
architects were part of an exhibit of drawings and models of proposals for designer lifeguard towers in 1990.
A similar contest was held in 2004 in Miami Beach with 25 local architects. The contest was organized by Jeremy Calleros Gauger, a graduate student at the University of Miami School of Architecture, and the designs were displayed at the Ocean Beach Auditorium. The winners announced were a functional cube with louvers and a modified surfboard design. A "striking" design called Plank earned an honorable because "there had to be space for a lifeguard to change out of a wet bathing suit."
Drowning
Drowning is death from asphyxia due to suffocation caused by water entering the lungs and preventing the absorption of oxygen leading to cerebral hypoxia....
s and other dangers. Lifeguards scan for trouble from the structures, which vary from beach
Beach
A beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...
bungalow
Bungalow
A bungalow is a type of house, with varying meanings across the world. Common features to many of these definitions include being detached, low-rise , and the use of verandahs...
s by the ocean
Ocean
An ocean is a major body of saline water, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean, a continuous body of water that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas.More than half of this area is over 3,000...
to poolside
Swimming pool
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is a container filled with water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest is the Olympic-size swimming pool...
towers. Lifeguard towers are also used to spot sharks and other threats.
The towers have featured in television shows including Baywatch
Baywatch
Baywatch is an American action drama series about the Los Angeles County Lifeguards who patrol the beaches of Los Angeles County, California, starring David Hasselhoff. The show ran in its original title and format from 1989 to 1999, sans the 1990-1991 season, of which it was not in production...
. Their construction is sometimes paid for with fundraisers, and their operation and staffing is subject to funding availability. Design contests have challenged architects to offer their visions of the structures.
History
Jones Beach
Jones Beach may refer to:* A barrier island off the coast of Long Island, New York:**Jones Beach State Park in Nassau County, New York in the United States**Jones Beach Island**Nikon at Jones Beach Theater...
" in 2004 reflected on the beach's history and his work, "From his wooden lifeguard tower." He remembered, "when everything was closed on Sundays -- the blue laws -- and most families had one car and there were no downtown shopping malls. For 25 cents you got in the car and took the kids to the beach. This was the poor man's Riviera." He wore the "itchy" one-piece woolen lifeguard suit "instead of the Tommy Hilfiger trunks that are today's standard issue." Fashions of beachgoers also changed with "The girls are wearing dental floss" as opposed to the dresses that he remembered being worn. Jones Beach gets more visitors annually than Yellowstone and Yosemite combined with 8 million people visiting in 2003, a steep drop from the 13.3 million who visited in 1970.
In the arts
Frank Gehry
Frank Owen Gehry, is a Canadian American Pritzker Prize-winning architect based in Los Angeles, California.His buildings, including his private residence, have become tourist attractions...
designed a lifeguard tower into a house as part of a remodel in Venice Beach, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
in 1985.
In 1988 a gallery commissioned "14 of the world's best-known architects to design lifeguard towers, those familiar fixtures that protect lifeguards from the elements and provide landmarks to help swimmers remember where they put their towels." The designers included Stanley Tigerman
Stanley Tigerman
Stanley Tigerman is an American architect, theorist and designer. He studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Chicago Institute of Design, and Yale University. After serving several years in the United States Navy, he assumed the role of draftsman and designer in a series of offices...
, Michael Graves
Michael Graves
Michael Graves is an American architect. Identified as one of The New York Five, Graves has become a household name with his designs for domestic products sold at Target stores in the United States....
, Richard Meier
Richard Meier
Richard Meier is an American architect, whose rationalist buildings make prominent use of the color white.- Biography :Meier is Jewish and was born in Newark, New Jersey...
, Charles Moore
Charles Moore
Charles Moore may refer to:*Charles Moore , America Olympic hurdler*Charles Moore , director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney...
, Aldo Rossi
Aldo Rossi
Aldo Rossi was an Italian architect and designer who accomplished the unusual feat of achieving international recognition in four distinct areas: theory, drawing, architecture and product design.-Early life:...
, Hans Hollein
Hans Hollein
Hans Hollein, is an Austrian architect and designer.Hollein achieved a diploma at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna in 1956, then attended the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1959 and the University of California, Berkeley in 1960...
, Antoine Predock
Antoine Predock
Antoine Predock is an American architect based in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Antoine Predock is the Principal of Antoine Predock Architect PC. The studio was established in 1967...
and Cesar Pelli
César Pelli
César Pelli is an Argentine architect known for designing some of the world's tallest buildings and other major urban landmarks. In 1991, the American Institute of Architects listed Pelli among the ten most influential living American architects...
and were given specifications including 360-degree visibility, vandal-proofing and other requirements as well as a hypothetical budget of $17,000 for their designs. The "superstar" West Coast
West Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
architects were part of an exhibit of drawings and models of proposals for designer lifeguard towers in 1990.
A similar contest was held in 2004 in Miami Beach with 25 local architects. The contest was organized by Jeremy Calleros Gauger, a graduate student at the University of Miami School of Architecture, and the designs were displayed at the Ocean Beach Auditorium. The winners announced were a functional cube with louvers and a modified surfboard design. A "striking" design called Plank earned an honorable because "there had to be space for a lifeguard to change out of a wet bathing suit."