Enhet och helhet Av : Marcelo Rovira Torres Var börjar man när ett badhus blir till? Var började badhuset? Kanske var det vid havet, när höstkylan gjorde att vattnet blev för kallt och människor sökte sig till en plats där de kunde simma oberoende av klimatet. Tre badhus som uppfördes under folkhemsbygget under 1900-talets första hälft analyserades i tre svenska städer, Göteborg, Malmö och Luleå. Där framgick det tydligt att fokus låg på motionen och simbanan är byggnadens självklara mittpunkt. Bastun och tvagningen får sett till utformningen en sekundär roll, men funktionen är likväl viktig. Mitt projekt har handlat om att destillera mötet mellan badhusets två huvudsakliga funktioner, motion och tvagning, att skala bort allt överflöd och hitta en arkitektur som kommer så nära byggnadens kärna som möjligt. / Unit and Unity  By: Marcelo Rovira Torres Where does one begin when a bathhouse is in the works? Where did bathhouses originate? Perhaps it was by the sea, when the autumn chill made the water unbearable and people searched for a place where they could swim no matter the climate. Three bathing houses in three Swedish cities, Gothenburg, Malmö and Luleå built during ‘Folkhemsbygget’ in the first half of the 20th century were analysed. There, it was clear that the main focus lay on exercise and the swimming pool for aquatic sports was the buildings undeniable centerpiece. The sauna and ablution seem to have a secondary role, but the function is just as important. This project is about distilling the meeting between the bathhouse’s two main functions, exercise and ablution, to peel away all the excess and find architecture that comes as close to the buildings core as possible.

Washington D.C. has been ranked third among U.S. cities in terms of its percentage of youth who have reported a severe major depressive episode. Depression, stress, anxiety are the uninvited visitors of our day-to-day urban living. Most of the time we ignore our mental health unless we reach the threshold. We know nature is the best healer. The District also has reported the highest percentage of parkland but this statistic is not helping regarding Healing and Wellness. There might be a missing piece of the puzzle to reconnect with nature. To dive deep into the missing piece, I have looked back to the basics, into the four elements of the planet, Earth, Water, Air, and Fire. This thesis is an exploration of the most important natural element, Water, along with the other three elements, as active participants in our everyday urban life, not only as a means of reconnecting with nature but also aiding with natural healing to our depressed, tired soul. As with many other older cities, Washington D.C. mostly depends on the combined storm and sanitary sewer. During heavy rainfall, stormwater overflows the capacity of the sewage system and empties into the river with sewage. But there is an opportunity for the stormwater to be treated and reused at the site. Rainwater along with tapped groundwater as the perennial flow will be considered as the source of healing water in the dense downtown context of the District. The thesis will tell the story of the arrival of Water into the middle of the city. Water will be examined in all its forms and integrated with the Third Place, where the young working generation can come in the middle of the working day to catch a lunch break or after office rush hour to relax their stressed nerves and heal their inner soul. This design for a community learning center at First Street NE in NoMA neighborhood, Washington D.C. is an effort to trace the path of the long-lost Tiber Creek and to provide the inhabitants with a for Water and growth. / Master of Architecture / Washington D.C. has been ranked third among U.S. cities in terms of its percentage of youth who have reported a severe major depressive episode. Depression, stress, anxiety are the uninvited visitors of our day-to-day city life. Most of the time we ignore our mental health unless we reach the threshold. We know nature is the best healer. The District also has reported the highest percentage of the green area but maybe only the "Green" is not enough for healing. To dive deep into the missing piece of the puzzle, I have walked back to the basics, looking into the four elements of the planet, Earth, Water, Air, and Fire. This thesis is an exploration of the most important natural element, Water, along with the other three elements, in architecture and urban design, not only as a means of reconnecting with nature but also aiding with natural healing to our depressed, tired soul. As with many other older cities, Washington D.C. mostly depends on the combined storm and sanitary sewer. During heavy rainfall, stormwater overflows the capacity of the sewage system and empties into the river with sewage. In this research, rainwater is considered as the source of healing water in the dense downtown context of the District. This thesis also examined tapping groundwater and bring it to the city street level. The thesis will tell the story of the arrival of Water into the middle of the city. This design for a community learning center at First Street NE in NoMA neighborhood, Washington D.C. is an effort to trace the path of the long-lost Tiber Creek and to provide the inhabitants with a place for Water and growth.

Badhus – Industrilandskapet i Norrköping Norrköping har behov av ett nytt badhus. Centralt i staden, längs Motala ström, finns Industrilandskapet som till stor del består av kulturell och vetenskaplig verksamhet men har en lång historia av textilindustri. Det nya badhuset är placerat i detta område; på ett befintligt vattenkraftverk. Syftet med projektet är att tillvarata Industrilandskapets kontrastrika själ, förstärka de rum och potentiella mötesplatser som finns samt ge Norrköping en möjlighet till friskvård och sportutövande. Målet är att visa hur en ny byggnadskropp relaterar och anpassar sig till den kulturella, platsspecifika och historiska kontexten. Byggnaden intar formen av en rektangel som skjuter upp ur slänten, likt en bergsrygg som sluter platsen. Byggnadskroppen aktiverar befintliga kvalitéer såsom den gamla stenbelagda trappan i väster och universitetsparken vid vattnet i söder. Byggnadens norra sida syftar till att ta emot och avsluta rutnätstaden i skala och uttryck. Den södra sidan av byggnaden tillsluter och definierar strömrummet med sin långsträckta fasad. Byggnadens interiör vänder sig utåt mot strömrummet så att det inifrån skapas en öppenhet åt söder gör industrilandskapet till en del av byggnaden. På entrévåningen ligger bassängerna vars vattenytor är visuellt kopplade till Motala ström i flera nivåer. Sutterängplanet inhyser omklädningsrum, det befintliga kraftverket samt fysioterapiavdelning med motionssal. / Public Bath – The Industrial Landscape in Norrköping   Norrköping is in need of a new public bath. In the centre of the city, along Motala ström, the industrial landscape is located. This area hosts cultural and scientific activities but has a long history of textile industry. The new public bath is located in this area on an existing water power plant. The aim of the project is to maintain the contrasty soul, enhance the spaces and potential venues that already exist and give Norrköping a possibility for wellness and exercising. The goal is to show how a new building adjusts and relates to the site specific and historical context. The building is shaped as a rectangle rising from the slope. It activates existing qualities such as the old stone stairs in the west. The north side of the building aims to receive and end the grid city in scale and expression. The south side with the long façade defines the river space. The interior faces the river and creates openness towards the south. Thereby the industrial landscape becomes part of the building. The swimming pools are located on the entrance floor and the surfaces of the water are visually linked to the river. The changing rooms, the power plant and the physiotherapy are placed in the basement.

Ett nytt badhus i Västertorp, beläget i den bortglömda, av E4:an dammiga, Mellanbergsparken dit folk kan gå för att bada. Det behövs inga fler simhallar i Stockholm, men ett nytt sorts badhus dit alla olika människor av alla åldrar kan komma och bada i en starkt arkitektonisk miljö - det fattas idag. Därför har jag fokuserat på att gestalta starka rumsligheter där vattnet får stå i fokus och förstärka upplevelsen av rummet. Genom badhuset finns tre olika steg på skalan i material och badupplevelser som går från asfalt till skog, från slutet till öppet. Längst ut mot skogen finns en badsal på 24 x 84 meter där en pelarskog av tegelpelare möter vattenytan. En vattenyta sträcker sig genom hela badsalen och speglar taket bestående av kryssvalv i bärande tegel. Från entrén till badhuset ser du tvärs igenom hela huset, genom innergården och skymtar denna magnifika badsal. I badsalen finns en rundsimmningsslinga och bredvid är det endast ankeldjupt. Du kan simma ut under ett stort fönsterparti och under arkaden som skuggar utanför. Här möter du tillslut skogen och E4:ans buller är glömt långt bakom. / A new kind of bath house in Västertorp, situated in the forgotten Mellanbergsparken contaminated by noise and dust from the freeway, where people can go swimming. There is no need for more indoor swimming pools in Stockholm, but a new kind of bath house, where different people of all different ages can go to bathe, swim and relax in a strongly architectural environment is missing. Therefore my focus has been to create powerful spaces where the water is in focus and enhances the architectural experience of the room. Through the bath house there is a scale that evolves from the site: from asphalt to forest, from enclosed to open. From the bath house entrance you get a glimpse through the inner court yard, towards the 24 by 84 meter colonnade hall for swimming. Here brick columns meet the water surface that stretches through the entire hall unbroken and reflects the ceiling made up of load bearing brick lierne vaults. In the bath hall is a loop for swimming and on the sides the water is only ankle-deep. From the loop you can swim out under a colonnade that shades the pool. Finally you meet the forest on the other side and the noise and smell of the freeway is far away and forgotten.