HEALTH AND SPA

Dear Readers,

don’t you think that the “Health and Spa” topic is particularly appropriate for our November issue? A healthy immune system, exercise and a special focus on hospital and doctor’s office equipment rarely seems as popular as at times of rising numbers of corona cases. In view of decreasing temperatures, research into well-designed saunas, fitness facilities and public baths has a warming effect. We had the chance to look at two very different baths — the Paracelsus Baths (picture above) by Berger+Parkkinen and Bad Berg (picture bottom) by 4a Architekten. Salzburg’s most recent swimming bath was opened just a few months ago. With its parametrically shaped ceiling landscape, innovative ceramic façade and unusual inner-city location (from p. 66), it forms an exciting contrast to Stuttgart’s oldest bath — Mineralbad Berg, built around 160 years earlier — for which the right balance between preserving the existing 1950s architecture and adapting it to the latest state of the art (p. 11) had to be found. A 1940s commercial building in Zurich was revitalised in a completely different way: Ushi Tamboriello used light and shade, colour and concrete to transform it into a fitness park (from p. 60). The Vitalbad in Kusel, the Badhaus in Kaltern and the Sports Building in Brighton also arouse the desire to exercise (from p. 70). And thanks to interior design interventions, animals, children and people have recently been able to benefit from a particularly good practice design (from p. 80). As always at the start of courses, we welcome all first-year students of architecture and interior design with the AIT welcome package. Simply send your postal address and certificate of enrolment to pstephan@ait-online.de! Stay fit and healthy through autumn!

Best wishes
Petra Stephan, Dipl.-Ing.
Chief Editor
Architect