The brief for this project was to redefine the boundary between two antithetical programs in the city of Seattle, one of which was required to be a thermal bath. We started the semester by creating a sculpture named “Combustion,” which intersects rigid concrete cubes with burned-out wood chips, which symbolizes an unpredictable process of change. This project forced us to think about how transformative processes could impact, and be impacted by, architecture.

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For our secondary program, we began to research Seattle itself. We found that Seattle has a rich history of technology and industry and has been constantly transforming the idea of what “industry” is. These industries include timber, mining, ship and aircraft manufacture, and the modern day tech boom. Seattle is also on the cutting edge of green technology and systems. This led us to establish our second program as a series of industrial processes centered on biomass power generation and aquaponics. The biomass would combust methane generated from seaweed farmed off-site, and the aquaponics would be used to grow herbs for the thermal baths. We felt that the baths and factory provided a strong contrast, mirroring the dichotomy of Seattle itself as a city that offers immense recreational opportunities while still being highly productive. However, there are also similarities between the programs, the systematic rituals of bathing mirror the linear processes inherent to industry, and both programs have historically been found in structures based on large, repeating grids.

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Given our earlier conceptual work and secondary program, it seemed clear that our building needed to explore American industrial elements and styles, for example, the concrete barrel vault and the brick façade. However, like Seattle itself, we sought to challenge the idea of traditional “dirty” industry, as well as the architecture that houses it. As we moved from these concepts to an architectural solution, we worked through our ideas using digital concept images and diagrams. These helped us determine the massing and programming of the building as we moved to plans, sections, elevations, and perspectives.

Our project seeks to align the processes of industry and relaxation through a bathing experience that features visual and circulatory connections with the machinery that facilitates that experience.