"Crossing Parallel(s)" was the winning design in a competition to envisage a bathhouse located beneath the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea.
Crossing parallel(s) by Studio LaM and Studio M.R.D.O. —
"Crossing Parallel(s)" was the winning design in a competition to envisage a bathhouse located beneath the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea.
Studio LaM and Studio M.R.D.O.
Designers Kangil Ji, Jinhyun Jun and Minkyung Song created a subterranean bathhouse with a ramp based on a double helix. Visitors from North and South Korea enter through separate checkpoints before being united in the communal pool below. Earlier this year, <a href="index.php?page=&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.archoutloud.com%2Fborders.html" target="_blank" target="_blank">Arch Out Loud</a> held a competition to design a bathhouse located in the DMZ.
Crossing parallel(s) by Studio LaM and Studio M.R.D.O. —
Designers Kangil Ji, Jinhyun Jun and Minkyung Song created a subterranean bathhouse with a ramp based on a double helix. Visitors from North and South Korea enter through separate checkpoints before being united in the communal pool below. Earlier this year, Arch Out Loud held a competition to design a bathhouse located in the DMZ.
Studio LaM and Studio M.R.D.O.
The designers say that the Crossing Parallel(s) is a metaphor for the history of divided Korea. The visitors' journey through the bathhouse alludes to changing tensions between North and South over the last seven decades.
Crossing parallel(s) by Studio LaM and Studio M.R.D.O. —
The designers say that the Crossing Parallel(s) is a metaphor for the history of divided Korea. The visitors' journey through the bathhouse alludes to changing tensions between North and South over the last seven decades.
Studio LaM and Studio M.R.D.O.
The ramps are in close proximity to one another as they circle the structure, but the two do not meet until they reach the communal pool at the bottom.
Crossing parallel(s) by Studio LaM and Studio M.R.D.O. —
The ramps are in close proximity to one another as they circle the structure, but the two do not meet until they reach the communal pool at the bottom.
Studio LaM and Studio M.R.D.O.
Visitors from each side encounter one other on the way down to the pool. The designers say that this is where bathers experience closeness and distance, both emotionally and physically.
Crossing parallel(s) by Studio LaM and Studio M.R.D.O. —
Visitors from each side encounter one other on the way down to the pool. The designers say that this is where bathers experience closeness and distance, both emotionally and physically.
Studio LaM and STUDIO M.R.D.O.
Runner-up "The Cross" was based on a traditional Korean "jjimjilbang" -- a large, gender-segregated public bathhouse.
Cross by Xiaoyu Wang and Yutian Wang —
Runner-up "The Cross" was based on a traditional Korean "jjimjilbang" -- a large, gender-segregated public bathhouse.
Xiaoyu Wang and Yutian Wang
The structure allows natural sunlight in, while offering views of the landscape around the DMZ.
Cross by Xiaoyu Wang and Yutian Wang —
The structure allows natural sunlight in, while offering views of the landscape around the DMZ.
Xiaoyu Wang and Yutian Wang
The outline of the bathhouse's walls is visible above ground. "The Cross" was designed by New York-based architects Xiaoyu Wang and Yutian Wang.
Cross by Xiaoyu Wang and Yutian Wang —
The outline of the bathhouse's walls is visible above ground. "The Cross" was designed by New York-based architects Xiaoyu Wang and Yutian Wang.
Xiaoyu Wang and Yutian Wang
"Water Whirl" was designed by Canada's Spectacle Bureau for Architecture and Urbanism. The design reinterprets the DMZ -- and its heavily armed negotiation spaces -- as a playful leisure space.
Water Whirl by SPECTACLE: Bureau for Architecture and Urbanism —
"Water Whirl" was designed by Canada's Spectacle Bureau for Architecture and Urbanism. The design reinterprets the DMZ -- and its heavily armed negotiation spaces -- as a playful leisure space.
SPECTACLE: Bureau for Architecture and Urbanism
Designed by Chinese architect Zhe Peng, "The Hypotenuse Thermae" uses various elements of classical architecture inspired by Roman baths.​
Hypotenuse Thermae by Zhe Peng —
Designed by Chinese architect Zhe Peng, "The Hypotenuse Thermae" uses various elements of classical architecture inspired by Roman baths.​
Zhe Peng