Bathing cultures have long fascinated Julia, from Japanese onsen and natural hot springs to hammams and the Nordic sauna tradition. Having grown up with the ritual of the sauna herself, she became interested in these spaces as rare environments in contemporary life where the outside world falls away and attention returns to the body, to heat, water and silence.
This project explores what happens when the journey to the sauna becomes part of the ritual itself. The sauna is placed on a small floating platform in the landscape, accessible only by swimming or by boat. Reaching it requires a deliberate transition, crossing the water, leaving the shore behind and entering a place that is physically and mentally detached from everyday life.
Arriving on the platform, the visitor finds a space with a single purpose, to enter the sauna. The surrounding water and mist create a quiet sense of isolation, intensifying the awareness of temperature, light and sound.
The sauna itself is heated with wood logs, requiring the visitor to light the fire and tend to it before the space slowly fills with warmth. In this way the ritual begins even before entering the sauna. Fire and water meet here as opposing elements, the heat of the flames against the stillness of the surrounding lake.
The architecture is intentionally simple and constructed from natural materials such as wood, allowing the space to age and change with its environment. These materials introduce texture, scent and warmth, creating a sensory atmosphere that reconnects visitors with the natural elements around them and, in turn, with themselves.
By separating the sauna from the land, the design transforms a familiar ritual into a spatial experience, a temporary island dedicated to warmth, stillness and reflection.
