Before becoming encapsulated within the realm of hygiene the bath was not only a social event, but also a form of collective pleasure. The space of the bath in the city was a public one, where the care of the self was a practice mediated by architecture. The bathhouse featured different environments that regulated the body temperature in relation with varying degrees of socialization. Inverting the contemporary separation between privacy and exposure, the new baths restored the public function of washing in the realm of the collective, becoming a place of sociality where the body was rescued from the tyranny of puritan invisibility. Occupying a central role in the village, the bathhouse provided a space for relaxation from the intense daily routine of construction.
Team leader: João Prates Ruivo (FORA)
Team members: Claire Humphreys, Marta Piasente, Lukasz Waclawek, Alexandra Kvasnicova, Kopácsi Anna, Miroslav Styk, Matthew Joyce
Photos: Balázs Glódi, Gábor Somoskői, Tamás Bujnovszky