For the Future Bathroom project, my first point of interest was to create some kind of a therapeutical experience for the client. As my client is a collector of shells it means she is often in contact with the ocean, and practices winter bathing for mental and physical health. After exploring the practice of winter bathing and the many benefits of doing so I decided to make that the focal point of the design. It’s something that I have tried myself so it felt natural to expand on that idea, and bringing that experience inside as it is usually something that is practiced outside. The act of winter bathing is something that is done in many nordic countries but each country has their own ritual. I studied the Icelandic and Danish method, where there is equally important to warm your self in between the ice baths. In Iceland there is a lot of heat in the ground so we are privileged to have open air swimming pools and hot tubs all around. The hot tubs are often in a spiraled form, which I wanted to incorporate in my design as I have been exploring the fibonacci sequence.
Mapping out my movements when I do winter bathing I discovered that there had to be some flow in moving from the warmth to the cold. I would run into the shore and into the ocean, gradually going deeper, and running back either to a sauna or a hot tub that would be close by. From that point the bathroom was split into three fibonacci squares – one being the main function for the ice bathing and warm bathing, and the two smaller ones the more functioning part of the bathroom, toilet and bassinets. The spiral is the ice bath, where you are in your own little meditative area. After dipping in you can enter the bath tub gradually with wide and deep steps. From the bathtub you can stand up and enter the shower and steam room. I’ve continued the use of glass blocks to create the moving water effect in the room, getting the feeling of being outside inside, and having natural movement in the space.