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One Man Sauna

German architects collective modulorbeat realized a temporary One Man Sauna for the international city project and art festival “Das Detroit-Projekt” in Bochum.

The project One Man Sauna results from the research lab Borderlands, which looks into the border and transit spaces of the city of Bochum as parts of the urban system of the Ruhr area.

Based on the argument that Bochum’s borderland is perceived as a coherent space, this area was studied and analysed quite independently on the habitual interpretation of the interconnection between periphery and centre. The worksheets of this study, the Feuilles de travail, made photos of typical Bochum borderlands into collages with a collection of texts on the subject of “Idleness”.

Top and above: modulorbeat, One Man Sauna, Bochum, Germany. Photo Roman Mensing

To tie in with this, the architects collective builds a One Man Sauna on an abandoned factory site in Bochum: a tower of 7,5 metres height made of stacked pre-cast concrete parts, which were originally used for building shafts, houses a one-man sauna. It is divided into super-imposed functional layers: a plunge pool below, the sauna on the medium level and a relaxation room with a view of the sky on top. Vertical ladders link the three floors.

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modulorbeat, One Man Sauna, Bochum, Germany. Photo Roman Mensing

modulorbeat, One Man Sauna, Bochum, Germany. Photo Roman Mensing

modulorbeat, One Man Sauna, Bochum, Germany. Photo Roman Mensing

modulorbeat, One Man Sauna, Bochum, Germany. Left: photo Roman Mensing. Right: photo Jan Kampshoff

modulorbeat, One Man Sauna, Bochum, Germany. Photo Jan Kampshoff

modulorbeat, One Man Sauna, Bochum, Germany. Photo Jan Kampshoff

modulorbeat, One Man Sauna, Bochum, Germany. Photo Jan Kampshoff

One Man Sauna, Bochum, Germany
Program: temporary sauna
Architects: modulorbeat
Team: Marc Günnewig, Jan Kampshoff & Sebastian Gatz
Structural Engineers: BOLLINGER + GROHMANN Ingenieure
Client: Schauspielhaus Bochum, Urbane Künste Ruhr
Completion: 2014

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