The sea is beautiful and refreshing on a hot day, but it?s also extremely unpredictable, with potential rip currents and sneaker waves often keeping swimmers on edge. So it?s no surprise that people seeking recreation and relaxation in salty waters have been working to tame small sections of the ocean for centuries now, building ?sea baths? that provide a protected place to float, swim, and sunbathe. The very first might have been built by the ancient Romans on a stretch of Italian coast with relatively few beaches, but the trend really took off during the 17th century, when sea bathing was thought to have a curative, therapeutic value.

Modern sea baths build on these early ideas either by creating ?sea pools? on beaches or building floating platforms, which themselves might offer diving boards, stadium seating, saunas, bathrooms, changing rooms, boat launches, and other amenities. A new example of the latter has popped up on the island of Bornholm in Denmark, and it looks like a gorgeous way to spend a sunny afternoon.
The Hasle Harbour Bath by White Architects is a sculptural space that’s bringing a little vitality back to a town hit hard by the decline of its fishing industry. Once a hub for shipping, fishing, and ferry service, the local port has grown quiet in recent years. But the things that are truly unique about Hasle Harbour are its numerous breakwaters, which protect it from the surge of the Baltic Sea but also make it feel distant and disconn...