This event has passed - watch the talk in the video below.

This event is part of the 2021 London Festival of Architecture under the theme of "Care".

Introduction

During the pandemic, public interest in various health and physical resilience-improving activities exploded. Sauna bathing, outdoor swimming, cold water immersion and breathwork, among others, gained countless new followers. How should our built environment support these well-being rituals? What could be the architectural response to these new epiphanies? In these invited talks, renowned architects, designers and experts draw on their research, imagination and practice – to lay out their visions for the personal and communal care regimes of heat, steam and ice.

Speakers (in alphabetical order)

• Anssi Lassila (FI) – Founder and director of OOPEAA – Office for Peripheral Architecture, professor of contemporary architecture (University of Oulu) | www.oopeaa.com

• Christie Pearson (CA) – Award-winning architect, writer, urban Interventionist and author of The Architectures of Bathing – Body, Landscape, Art (MIT press, 2020) | www.christiepearson.ca

• Jane Withers (UK) – Leading design consultant, curator, and writer. Curator of Soak, Steam, Dream: Reinventing Bathing Culture and winner of Milan’s Design Prize for Experimentation | www.janewithers.com

• Mikkel Aaland (US / NO) – Photographer, filmmaker, publisher and author of Sweat (Capra Press, 1978) and the upcoming TV series Perfect Sweat | www.mikkelaaland.com

Hosted and moderated by

• Wendy Liu – Architect RIBA, Arts & Culture Officer, British Sauna Society

• Mika Meskanen – Co-founder and Chair, British Sauna Society