Floating Architectures for Bathing: The Case of Port and River Facilities in Copenhagen, Oslo, and Stockholm

Abstract

The objective of this research is to study floating architectures designed for bathing within the geographical and cultural context of Scandinavian capitals. The work begins with a cataloging effort of infrastructures and facilities currently in use to identify specific solutions that remain relevant among a wide variety of options. To this end, an analysis of 39 works has been carried out, from which 9 case studies were selected as paradigmatic examples of this type of construction. The study starts by historically and geographically contextualizing floating architectures for bathing and their various designs, establishing a series of parameters that can serve for their formalization. The description of these parameters and their study through drawings allow the definition of a range of types of floating architectures, facilitating the establishment of comparative relationships among them and systematizing a proprietary cartographic analysis method. Understanding the evolution of each case and its specific formalization allows for appreciating the different relationships between people, architecture, and the natural environment. To achieve this, it is necessary to delve into the diversity of strategies described in the different studied works that base their relationship with water on buoyancy. This exploration proves particularly useful in the reinvention of urban maritime and riverfronts, considering the challenges and issues arising from the anticipated rise in sea levels and the current context of climate change.