Bathing Culture Gothenburg | Raumlabor

Frihamnen, one of the harbor areas of Gothenburg, is gradually losing its industrial character and is steadily becoming a new, central part of the city, open to be discovered and adopted by the citizens. The present state of transition, the traces of its former uses and the huge undefined spaces together make the area very attractive for the establishment and implementation of different kinds of cultural activities. Apart from polluted land and water, the heritage of this industrial port area is a series of fascinating functional objects and buildings and the spontaneous and fragile nature that somehow exists between asphalt, con­crete and water. The docks, created for turning ships, will lose their former function in the future. The water surface repre­sents the blue part of the envisaged Jubilee Park. Imagining new uses and types of experiences, as well as links between the water, the land and the neighbourhood, are crucial for the development of the whole area.

For sustainable urban growth and the creation of a specific harbour park at Frihamnen it is necessary to preserve the memory of the site by attempting to intertwine with old structures, both physically and emotionally, the feeling and the qualities of the current state of ‚waiting‘ for new uses, buildings and temporary interventions.

Establishing bathing in this rough and hostile environment is, above all, a way to change the perception of it: creating intimate spaces, new leisure experiences and the opportuni­ty for communication between different groups of people. Since water pollution does not allow, for the moment, direct bathing activities in the docks, the establishment of Bathing Culture activities will generate a form of prediction for the future of this particular setting.

Bath as a forum

Public baths were once an intense place for social gathe­rings in our cities. They were places not only for relaxation and sport but also for politics, discussion, business deals, eroticism, hedonism and crime. This has been lost in our cities and substituted with the more bleak and leisure-based public swimming pools and spas. We see the baths as a social space to meet people, spend time together and discuss life. The sensorial qualities of the baths provide us with a place where there is no competition, consumption or spectacle, but where the focus is purely on sharing spaces and thoughts, and enjoying and benefiting from the water.

City planning as a process

Working on an abstract level of city planning, Raumlabor has specialised in dynamic master planning. Activation through use is the central approach. Multifaceted use of public space is a driving force for the development of vibrant, contem­porary and adaptive neighbourhoods. We seek to invent new, user-based applications and involve various urban players as early as possible in the transformation processes.

Research-based design

Raumlabor are committed to dealing with places 1:1, discovering and using what we find within the conditions at the site. In the process of doing, we learn more about the investigation site through active design and finding new methods that are open to appropriation and upgrading exi­sting methods. We do not always solve problems; we initiate processes that give players the opportunity to get to know, understand and use the city and its dynamics, as well as its possibilities.

Collaborators: Bruno Gonçalves, Christian Göthner, Eduardo Conceição, Florian Stirnemann, Jordane Coquart, Katharina Spagl, Maria Garcia Perez, Mariana Marques da Silva, Martina Blom, Sam Dias Carvalho