Temple of Bathing to Complement the Sauna Experience

The Temple of Bathing, Kylpytemppeli in Finnish, is a small wooden pavilion dedicated to the peaceful contemplation of nature and the soothing effect of being immersed in water. It is created to complement the sauna experience by offering a chance to enjoy the element of water, which is an integral part of the Finnish sauna tradition.

The Temple of Bathing is an example of a small scale project realized in seamless collaboration between the architect and the builders. The scale of the bathing pavilion is intentionally small. It has been designed in a way that made it possible to build it with a small team by hand, with no need for large construction machinery.

The project provides a commentary to addresses the question of scale which is at the heart of architecture. When the scale of projects changes, also the dynamics of the process of creating architecture change. Yet, architecture is always about skilfully managing the scale of the project, no matter what the scale. How could we move from the small scale to a larger scale without losing the connection with the scale of the human experience?

The Temple of Bathing is created to complement the bathing experience offered by Sauna Tonttu.

• For a description of Sauna Tonttu, see HERE.