Master Project 2 - Sauna Ritual
Master thesis
MASTER PROJECT DESCRIPTION
'Sauna ritual' is a guided sauna experience in a tent sauna that is self-made using natural materials that are collected from nature, recycled or hand made. The ritual starts with a group, specific for each ritual, transporting the tent sauna by bike or sledge and putting it up in a different location every time. To start with, sauna rules are read that emphasize mutual respect and trust, peace, discussion, relaxation, respect for nature and focusing on the moment. A different theme will be prepared for each ritual that can vary from sauna fragrances to different themes to discuss, such as climate anxiety or loneliness. The sauna works as a kind of a gate to another world, offering a set of people to go together to a specific place and create a space and atmosphere for a single event. I believe this method helps to see things from a different perspective, to slow down, to focus on the essential things, and to discuss challenging topics.
My master project 1 ‘Building with natural materials workshops’ from my first study year continues this year by ‘the Snow world workshop’ in Espoo, Finland. The workshop will be part of The 2025 Architecture and Design Days that is a week long festival around the flag-flying day of Alvar and Aino Aalto and Finnish architecture and design. I will arrange the workshop with an architeture collective I have with Anniina Kortemaa and Karoliina Mäenpää. This workshop is a parallel project to my Master project 2 - Sauna Ritual and it is not a direct part of it.
< This is a draft of the event image.
The event description:
'Haukilahti beach snow world workshop' is a collective construction workshop on the Haukilahti / Mellsten beach in Espoo. A group of interested participants, both adults and children aged 7 and older, will go together to explore the Haukilahti beach, which has remnants of the old built environment, such as house foundations, a stone pier and an old cellar. On the beach, we will imagine together what this ruined place would look like in a parallel world, where the ruins and their surroundings are full of life. Then we will build this parallel world on the spot out of snow. The workshop leaders will write down a story to tell about the parallel world. After the workshop, the story will be recorded as a temporary information board, which will remain on the spot until the next winter's snow.
Pile of branches in Iladalen park.
My note on the pile of branches.
Picking up the branches. Photo: Belén Santillán
Second try with the ceramics trolly.
The branches at Prosjekttorget over night.
A new note for that.
Now the branches are waiting in the MAPS studio.
Tree Witches: collective rituals
Galleri Seilduken / 3.-5.10.2024 / Mimmi Koponen, Marie Cole, Liselli Grunwald
Exhibition in collaboration with Marie Cole and Liz Grunwald
As the first part of my master project I made an installation of the tent sauna for a gallery space and arranged a sauna ritual there. The installation didn’t have a sauna stove or heat and there was no throwing of water. In stead I tried to create an atmosphere as close to a functional sauna as possible by using artificial elements, such as recorded sounds, lights and smells.
The installation consisted of a sauna and a lake. The structure of the sauna was a square made of two-meter-long spruce branches tied together with jute rope. The structure was hanging from the ceiling, and it was covered on top and sides by blankets that were sewn together. Inside the space there were benches in a u-shape. The benches were made of found wooden boards on recycled brick legs. In the middle of the space there was a sauna stove that was made of bricks and stones from the river. Under the stones there was an orange spotlight, and in the front of it a vaporizer. The vapour had a fragrance of a smoke sauna made of tar. Under the stones there was also a hidden speaker that played sauna sounds, such as wood burning and throwing of water on a stove. The sauna was in the middle of the exhibition space, and behind it on outside there was a bench facing the back wall where there was a projection of lake videos.
Illustrations of the (functional) tent sauna in different locations
Inspirational works
Facebook event to carry the artwork from Rådhusbrygga to Kunstnernes Hus
https://fb.me/e/74oyr9Rvj
<Damien Ajavon