Since ancient times and across a range of diverse cultures, the routine of bathing has played a vital role in bringing people together. People don’t only use baths for hygienic practices, but also for fulfilling communal and civic purposes such as ritual, public forum and fostering social bonds. The unique technical and practical requirements of bathing environments – either public or private – forge relationships between the social, the material and the ecological. Baths are intricate, temporal and multi-faceted places that can reflect complex societal values. Architecturally, they emphasize different sensorial, atmospheric and experiential qualities, all the while choreographing spaces for regeneration and well-being.

This studio takes on reimagining a long forgotten public bathing experience in the US. The studio aimed to question the entangled relationships between individuals and their immediate environment. First, students analyzed a range of practices that have shaped different bathing cultures across history and geographies. From there, students defined a specific take on a bathing practice, and later developed a range of scenographic studies that underscored elements that impact experiential qualities of a bath: materials, atmospheres and architectural form. Finally, students leveraged these insights to "Draw a Bath".