design 102 | spring 2012

This fragmented landscape separates the individual from the world and highlights these extreme experiences through a series of folding and unfolding planes. These create sensory disorientation and puts the user in the present, only connected to the place in the here and now.

3. bathhouse

The bathhouse exists as a series of opposite experiences:

wet + dry
dark + light
private + public

The form of the intervention responds to the enclosures created by the fragmented landscape. Roof coverings and platforms provide minimal impact and utilize the cavernous spaces and voids for the pools of water and spaces for meditation. The varied roof openings correspond to the interior program and orientation. 

The sections illustrate the three different pools present in traditional Roman baths: 

1. Frigidarium (top drawing)
2. Solarium (middle drawing)
3. Caldarium (bottom drawing)

The different pools are placed in a sequence that traverses across vertically and horizontally to maximize the sun's rays and spatial enclosure found in the landscape. 



Polar opposites deconstruct the solid earth as forces diverge. The fragmentation resulting from this operation creates a landscape of peaks and abysses; a landscape of tension. 

The aggregation of the 3 original modules across the entirety of the site created a new landscape, one made from the refused ground. The ideas of fragmentation and polarity created a major rift through the center. 

The spatial conditions within the new landscape, a 36" x 18" x 12" lumber construct, were documented in the photographs to the right. Overhangs and bridges, enclosures and reveals all became part of his newly created landscape to be intervened.



Geo-sphere: Earth Topography

Through the analysis of an assigned photo of a landscape aerial view (upper left image) a series of drawings were created to understand and redefine the concepts of fragmentation and polarity. The fragmented ice landscape was examined in terms of:

1. Density (upper right image)
2. Direction (lower left image)
3. Geometry (lower right image)

           ink on mylar 36" x 36" drawings

The fractured ice revealed tension and motion in a static image, something that became important to capture in the creation of the modules and the aggregated landscape.

The first diagram on the right shows the programmatic components of the bathhouse complex: gathering space, changing rooms for visitors, caldarium, solarium, frigidarium, tepidarium, and an outdoor pool. 

The second diagram on the right shows the circulation through the bathhouse complex. Visitors arrive at the gathering place and proceed to enter the changing rooms where their individual journey begins. 


From the analysis drawings, 2" x 4" lumber pieces were transformed into 3 modules that allowed for movement in the three axes. The combination of horizontality and verticality gave a wide palette