Body Erosion Bathhouse

A bathhouse has two main elements that come in contact with the material of which it is made of- water and the human body. Using these two items as agents of erosion, Body Erosion bathhouse responds to three different scales- water, the body, and the hand. The bathhouse is about celebrating the human body and its unique experience with surface through support and intimacy.
 
Housed in the top two floors of Hotel Van Zandt in downtown Austin, the bathhouse provides various bathing experiences such as a hot pool, cold plunge pool, jacuzzi, warm sitting pool, sauna and steam room. The experiences are organized into sectional bands that facilitate circulation, both from band to band and vertically through the space. The usable space created sectionally on the 15th floor is used to house changing rooms, offices and storage areas. The space is designed with two main circulation paths to allow for maximum accessibility, as the bathhouse is about the inclusion and celebration of all different body types. Architecture needs to respond to its relationship with the human body, and the Body Erosion Bathhouse uses the opportunity of bathing to study that relationship. The bathhouse provides an inclusive celebration and study of the body through moments and forms that respond to the similarities and differences in the body’s form as it interacts with water and surface.