TEETH + TEA/ BATSU | Stockholm, Sweden | Unit 21 | 2017
This project explores the spatial composition of rituals through model making. Shapes and forms generated from activity graphs are superimposed into one another and modified to create a new sequence of spaces through the language of folding and curling. Intersections between the ritualised and the more fluid could come together in this space.
The physical gestures from Teeth Cleaning and Tea Making are collapsed into physical models, which can be modified to suit user needs. Nothing is stuck together permanently, it is held together by blue tape or slotted into place. This decision was made to allow flexibility for ones needs within the space.
This working method was developed further when applied to the act of public bathing in Stockholm. A ‘Bastu’ (Swedish equivalence of bathhouse) is proposed on the island of Langholmen to reinforce historic bathing rituals and interactions.
Langholmen Cliffs is an outcrop of rock which juts out perpendicular to the rest of the island, creating a notch. I repeated this geological attribute by reinforcing its straight edge with the bathhouse. The Bastu composes itself against the rest of the Langholmen Island. The activities which take place in the facility are extended out onto Lake Malaren.
The design of the Bastu is led by water capture, filtration, storage use and discharge. Water is used for time keeping, indicating the beginning, ending and changing of rituals. The tanks are expressed as tall vertical columns which distribute varying temperatures of water throughout the building. Many of the forms used in the building originate from manipulating shapes created in the activity graph for a ‘Fully Contemporary Healthcare Facility.’
In reference to the historical bathing programme in Stockholm, the structure is fairly open to the elements, where bathers have a direct connection to their natural surroundings. The act of moving between thresholds and private/public performance is repeated in the Swedish bathing ritual, emphasised by the differences in temperature. Curtains and screens are used to protect bathers from cold winds.
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