This is a project based on our experiences of bathing cultures from our respective home countries Finland and Iceland.
We wanted to offer our Russian spectators a warm sauna, banja in their own language, and a cold dive directly in the river itself. To have some more local qualities, we added a typical small pine tree from the area and fine lace curtains to add some privacy if needed.
We could not attend the opening ceremony, but judging from the images taken,
the people were using the bathing floater to full capacity and enjoying it in imaginative ways.
In time the wood will become grey of rain and river water and the sauna will start
having a fragrance of tar and smoke, both adding to the experiences of bathing
in the middle of nature. We hope the atmosphere with reflections in the dark pool,
the sound and light of fire in the sauna and waving of the lace curtains in the
vast steppe evening wind will become a nice memory for the visitors.
Sami Rintala
Dagur Eggertsson
