Round about baths
Leopold Banchini Architects
Gran vía
2025
Round About Baths transforms an impersonal and inaccessible fountain, trapped at the center of relentless traffic, into an intimate and communal experience where undressed bodies meet in water. Roundabouts — those circular, unreachable spaces where cars dance endlessly, looking for meaning — become here the setting for a temporary public bath.
Once the pride of 19th-century social movements promoting public hygiene for the working class, urban public baths have slowly closed their doors, unsurprisingly replaced by private and commercial wellness centers, mirrors of our times.
Combining changing rooms, steam rooms, and cold-water basins, Roundabout Baths offers privacy while occupying a central point in the city. The temporary public program reveals the hidden potential of a car-dominated urban environment, hacking street equipment and transforming our perception of these forgotten spaces.
The tall walls of the bathing facility are made from a regular timber structure clad with uncut wooden panels, temporarily used for the installation. While the panels will find a second life after the festival, the fountain itself will return to its uselessness, leaving behind only memories and new visions of what public space could be. The heart of the restless circle of motion, shaped by absence, will return to oblivion: a fountain pouring silver into the dark.
Roundabout Baths – User Guide
Bathing sessions are 45 minutes long. Capacity is limited and managed in timed slots. Each participant must bring their own towel and wear a bathing suit. The experience begins in the hot steam room and continues in the outdoor area, where visitors can rest and cool down in the cold water basins.
Changing areas are shared, with separate spaces on either side of the entrance. Personal belongings are placed in individual bags and securely held by staff during the session.
Roundabout Baths is a safe space. Entry is not permitted for children under 5 years old. Silence, respect, and mindful behavior are expected at all times. Disrespectful or inappropriate conduct will not be tolerated.
June 19–24
Gran Vía, Logroño
Reserve your spot
Leopold Banchini Architects
Leopold Banchini Architects desarrolla una arquitectura ecléctica y no dogmática centrada en la simplicidad, sostenibilidad y la poesía de la construcción. Valoran la creatividad, las culturas de reutilización y desafían los métodos convencionales de producción. Su trabajo abarca desde pequeñas instalaciones hasta grandes proyectos públicos en todo el mundo, con instituciones como el Musée du Quai Branly, el Centre Pompidou y el Ministerio de Cultura de Bahréin. Premiado con el León de Oro en la Bienal de Venecia, sus proyectos se han presentado globalmente.
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