Sea bathing, architecture and law: an overview of 200 years of intersections at the seaside

Abstract

This study explores the historical links between sea bathing, architecture and law. It shows how architecture has served to mediate the practice of sea bathing, from its social revival in the eighteenth century, to the contemporary spatialisation of the multiple uses of the sea for bathing. It examines the role of law in regulating not only the use of maritime space, but also the social practice of sea bathing itself, by attempting to impose moral standards, what we call the 'spatialisation of decency'. In light of the recognition of water-related activities in urban settings, this work sheds light on the complex and often contradictory, yet ever-present, relationships between sea bathing, law and architecture that have shaped both the sea-land interstice as well as the bather's experience throughout history and concludes that this triad has been closely linked, either embracing or opposing the social organisation and habits of sea bathers.