Thermal Bath, Liep?ja Contemporary Building, Concept Architecture, Images
Thermal Bath in Liep?ja
Architecture Development, Latvia ? design by Steven Christensen Architecture
5 Jan 2017
Thermal Bath
Design: Steven Christensen Architecture
Location: Liep?ja, Latvia
Steven Christensen Architecture Awarded at 2016 AAP American Architecture Prize for Recreational Architecture

Steven Christensen Architecture of Santa Monica, California has been named a winner in the first annual AAP American Architecture Prize, which recognizes the most outstanding architecture worldwide.

 

The design for Liep?ja Thermal Bath and Hotel originates from a keen interest in the formal associations of the dome throughout architectural history, and more precisely, its role within the typology of the public bath.
 

The dome has been an important organizational and representational device throughout the history of the public bath, playing a central role in the most technologically innovative Roman bathing structures, through the myriad dim and atmospheric medieval Ottoman examples, and continuing on into countless Renaissance and Baroque precedents. The dome’s semiological and organizational roles in these structures are closely aligned: by reinforcing centrality and singularity, the form renders unmistakably explicit the primacy of the circle of space directly below.

 

The representational efficiency of the dome has made it a favorite among patrons with an interest in reinforcing...