A
Practices of Presence
Navn
Anna Poltavets
Uddannelsesgrad
Kandidat
Fagfelt
Arkitektur
Institut
Design og Visuel Interaktion
Program
Strategic Design and Entrepreneurship - Architecture, Design and Business
År
2026
Practices of Presence is a proposal for a new form of urban recovery infrastructure.
The project rethinks the neighbourhood sauna as a scalable network embedded in everyday city life, combining architecture, operational design, and entrepreneurship. By reducing barriers of distance, time, cost, and accessibility, it aims to transform sauna from an occasional destination into a regular practice of wellbeing.
Contemporary urban life exposes people to constant sensory stimulation, social acceleration and fragmented attention. While cities offer opportunities for connection and productivity, they also contribute to chronic stress and cognitive fatigue. Recovery is often treated as a private responsibility rather than supported through shared urban infrastructure. This raises the question of how everyday environments can better support mental and physical restoration.
Sauna bathing has been associated with reduced stress, improved cardiovascular health and enhanced psychological well-being. Beyond its physiological effects, sauna culture also provides a structured social ritual that combines recovery, reflection and community.
Despite its benefits, sauna participation remains limited by a combination of economic, spatial, temporal, physical and psychological barriers. As a result, sauna often becomes an occasional destination rather than a recurring everyday practice.
How can architecture rethink the neighbourhood-scale sauna typology to lower the threshold of participation and embed it into everyday urban life?
Organisational Scale
Conventional neighbourhood saunas typically serve approximately 150 visitors per day. The proposed model increases this capacity to up to 1,500 daily users through a different operational structure.
Rather than functioning as a wellness destination, the sauna operates through scheduled one-hour sessions running continuously throughout the day. One or two sauna units can operate in parallel, while supporting functions are reduced to the essentials required for the thermal cycle. The result is a system that functions closer to a class-based service than a traditional spa visit.
This operational model increases capacity, simplifies management, and creates a predictable user flow. It also enables integration with preventive health programmes, sports organisations, and health insurance providers, allowing sauna access to become part of broader public health strategies.
The detailed business model is presented in the supplementary materials.
Urban Scale
If sauna is meant to become part of everyday life, it cannot depend on occasional visits or dedicated travel. The proposal therefore rethinks sauna infrastructure as a distributed urban network embedded within existing daily routines.
Berlin was used as a testing ground for the model. The network is strategically deployed within existing urban gaps and underused sites, transforming overlooked urban spaces into accessible recovery infrastructure.
To operate as a distributed network, the project relies on temporary architecture. Rather than waiting for permanent development opportunities, sauna units can occupy underused sites for limited periods of time. This reduces implementation barriers, shortens deployment timelines and allows the system to adapt as urban conditions change. Temporary architecture becomes a tool for testing, scaling and gradually expanding the network.
Building Scale
To support deployment across different urban conditions, the project is designed as a modular kit of parts. The system consists of prefabricated components that can be combined according to site constraints, capacity requirements and operational needs.
The kit includes entrance, changing, sauna and recovery modules that can be arranged in multiple configurations while maintaining the same operational logic and user experience.
This approach increases adaptability, simplifies construction and supports the gradual expansion of the network over time.
The selected site demonstrates one possible application of the modular system. While the overall configuration responds to local conditions, the spatial sequence remains consistent across the network.
The proposal is organised as a sequence of spaces that gradually transition from public to private environments. The entrance pavilion accommodates social functions, while the changing and sauna modules increase privacy and separation from the surrounding streets. The outdoor recovery landscape occupies the most protected part of the site, creating a setting for cooling, rest and social interaction.
The visualisations illustrate the spatial journey through the neighbourhood sauna. From the street-facing entrance pavilion, visitors move through a gradual transition into the thermal core and outdoor recovery landscape. Natural materials, controlled daylight and carefully framed views support a shift from the intensity of the city towards a calmer environment focused on well-being, social interaction and sensory experience.
Det Kongelige Akademi understøtter FN’s verdensmål
Siden 2017 har Det Kongelige Akademi arbejdet med FN’s verdensmål. Det afspejler sig i forskning, undervisning og afgangsprojekter. Dette projekt har forholdt sig til følgende FN-mål
