Cumbres de Monterrey National Park, Mexico
Casa Monterrey is a three-storey, concrete residential project build into a hillside in northern Mexico. The family home was completed in 2011 by Tadao Ando, a self-taught Japanese architect who originally trained as a boxer. There are two bodies of water in this 1,500 square-metre plot. The first is a shallow, pebble-bottomed reflecting pool in a triangular courtyard on the lower ground floor. The other (pictured left) is an infinity pool - a rectangle of blue, framed with greyish square tiles - that offers spectacular views of the surrounding countryside.
Thermae Bath Spa
Bath, England
The late architect Sir Nicholas Grimshaw (designer of London's Waterloo International railway station) won the global architectural competition to design the Thermae Bath Spa in 1997. The building is a solid cube sandwiched between two baths - one on the lower ground and the other on the roof - surrounded by glass. The baths are fed by the natural waters that rise from the springs, which have been cooled and filtered to make them suitable for bathing. The rooftop pool allows for some of the best views of the city skyline. Two-hour sessions cost from £42.50.
The Silo Hotel
Cape Town, South Africa
The Silo Hotel, designed by Thomas Heatherwick, sits above the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa (MOCAA) in a refurbished grain silo building dating from 1924. The roof terrace is fitted with a swimming pool, framed by concrete, which is partially detailed to resemble an aquarium, displaying swimmers in profile. It offers expansive views of the city and landmarks such as Table Mountain, Lion's Head and Robben Island in the distance.
Bofill House
Mont-ras, Girona, Spain
In 1973 Catalan architect Ricardo Bofill built a summer house in Mont-ras, a village in northeastern Spain, for his parents. The swimming pool acts as the focal point and its red porcelain tiles bleed on to the deck on three sides as an articulated edge to meet the terrace.
Villa Capeillères
Côte d'Azur, France
Alain Capeillères is a lesser-known figure in architecture and designed this pool for his wife, Lucie, in the 1970s. The pool is visible on Google Maps - its white decking covers a substantial area that stands out in its other-worldliness from the surrounding natural vegetation. Capeillères is thought to have used 128,000 tiles for the project, each measuring 15cm x 15cm. The grid acts as a canvas for sharp shadows and lounging brown bodies. The 25-metre pool is equipped with a recessed diving platform.
This is an edited extract from Extraordinary Pools by Naina Gupta, published by Batsford Books, £25.