Wannenbäder
"Bath day", the final work of
Stefan Veits, a graduate of the industrial design department, already persuades because of the imaginations around this subject and its pictorial presentation. He suggests to resusciate the traditional public bath but in a new look and with a new goal. "Bath day" is the vision of a new public bath.
"A Day at the Baths"

"A Day at the Baths" - a vision of a new kind of public bath. Using the existing - hygiene and cleanliness oriented - public bathtub as a starting point, I developed, largely by means of pictures, a new type of bath. The pictores tell "bathing stories" in the context of different scenarios.
Sketches, models and mock-ups preceded the construction and rendering of the scenarios as 3-d models on the Macintosh.

"A Day at the Baths" shows a new kind of public bath - a bath to rest, relax and dream, but also a bath to meet with people, for conversation.
This kind of bathing is very rare in Western Europe.
The sports-oriented swimming pools, the often loud holiday-style adventure baths with their theatrical backdrops and the health and fitness oriented saunas do not offer this kind of bathing experience.
The design for this bath pays tribute to the old bathtub: the public hygiene bath that dates from the time when most people had no baths in their own homes.
Other influences stem from bathing in other cultures:
The sociable, sensual bathhouse of the Middle Ages, a place where even parties and weddings were held.
The japanese bath, where friends, family and neighbours meet - more because of the social contacts than the bathing.
The islamic Hammam - a place to relax; for long conversation and stories.

The middlepoint of the bath is the bathtub, the trusted vessel into which we climb in order to float, carried by the water. This is our "personal easy-chair" in which we find both shelter and certain grandeur. The bathtub is a simple and very direct bathing pleasure.
In the bath presented here a stam-bath is combined with
the following three bathtub areas:

- The Cocoon:
a quiet place with a view - for bathing alone or in pairs.
- The Roofgarden:
for the date at the bath. Groups of two tubs face each other. These are the tubs for conversation, tea for two or a game of chess.
- The Look-Out:
for people bathing alone but who want a bit of company. A place for small-talk with the neighbour, to read a book or just to scan the horizon
as a bathtub captain.

Bathing procedure:

After changing one has the option of showering; in the following bathing area, one is either naked or wears a bathrobe.
There is a bar that serves drinks and sells bath supplements.

Direct views into the bath from the outside are not possible.

back to the comic

homepage Ausgang 96 --- survey of the exhibitors --- exit Ausgang 96

visitors' book

responsible and © copyright: Projektgruppe "Ausgang 96"