Off-campus UMass Amherst users: To download campus access theses, please use the following link to log into our proxy server with your UMass Amherst user name and password.
Non-UMass Amherst users: Please talk to your librarian about requesting this thesis through interlibrary loan.
Theses that have an embargo placed on them will not be available to anyone until the embargo expires.
Access Type
Open Access
Document Type
thesis
Degree Program
Architecture
Degree Type
Master of Architecture (M.Arch.)
Year Degree Awarded
2013
Month Degree Awarded
May
Keywords
thermal bathhouses, phenomenology, typology, materiality, sensuality
Abstract
This thesis presents an inquiry into the nature of and history behind public thermal bathhouses, as well as a design proposal for a new and uniquely site-based public thermal bathhouse structure, the form of which has been developed with an eye toward typology.
The research and writings of this thesis explore the topic of public thermal bathhouses, both as historic phenomena and viable places of congregation still relevant and of great importance to healthy and vital contemporary communities. An effort has been made to demonstrate that written histories, archaeological landmarks, and contemporary international urban communities throughout the world provide ample documentation in support of the notion that public thermal bath houses both served and continue to serve an integral role within healthy, vital and sustainable cultures.
The physical modeling, drawings and sketches of this thesis develop ideas about form and materiality, and explore and bring together discreet architectural phenomena into a singular, formal, proposal for a prototypical public bath house typology, one whose program and form are well suited to a contemporary small town within the United States.
At present, the ritual of public bathing exists within the United States, at best, far outside main stream culture as a singular, sensational event such as a hot spring or a commercial, private day spa- neither of which retain any semblance of the core principals, typological rituals, degree of sensory immersion, or whole-body therapy that define the essence of a more traditional and timeless public bathing experience.
It is the intention of this thesis to present a compelling case for why a public bathhouse not only could exist on the current American landscape, but moreover why it should, and if so, what form it might take.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.7275/4153451
First Advisor
Kathleen R. Lugosch