In this proposal, a former coalmine in the centre of Oberhausen becomes the site of bathing facilities that make use of the local spring water. The basin is set deep below ground at the place where mineworkers used to carry out oppressive and dirty work. The reversal from dirty to clean has a major role to play in the project.

After the mines were demolished, two shafts remained as relics. The design divides into three components with the mine shafts as departure point. The entrance zone is discovered at ground level in a slot that is in effect the 'afterglow' of the demolished mine. Clad in Corten steel, it provides the setting for a transparent volume of amenities acting as a physical platform between the two shafts. A journey down the former mine shafts - the second component of the design - extinguishes all sense of time and place. The third component, the subterranean bathing facility, is a reversal from mass to void. A sculpture you can enter. The water-filled cavity resembles an air bubble kept under pressure. The shape of the bathing space evokes a feeling of quiet and freedom despite its being completely enclosed. Leaving the lift, you pass through changing rooms to arrive in one of the tunnels linked at a gentle incline with the basin. These light shafts are the only sources of illumination in the space. The two tunnels, pointed at the focal points of the symmetrical space, scatter light throughout the space. The mysterious ambience forces one to whisper; the silence is the absolute antithesis of the ear-splitting din once made here by pneumatic hammers.

Place of education: Rotterdam
Specialization: architectuur
Tutors: Peter Thole, Mart Reijs & Wim Korvinus