Thickening
On Air & Atmosphere
Featured in Scale Journal, Vol. II: Heresy, 2026
Featured in BEB Archive, 2026
Site: Lincoln, MA
Instructor: Emily Ezquerro
Air, although invisible, reveals itself through thickening. Resulting in what we measure as humidity, this thickening has become a major factor in defining comfort within an environment.
Architecture has tried to come up with solutions to control and mitigate moisture within the air, within a space. However, perhaps the direction is not to gain ultimate control, but to provide room for air to play and misbehave.
This project proposes a bathhouse, thinking around processes like cleansing, bathing, and resting. A steam vent spindles and twists within the bathhouse, harnessing warm air. Treating air as a shared resource, the vertical path made by the thickened air determines the spatial programs within. The steam produced becomes a vessel, a ritual, that serves for communal gathering.
Ground Level: Living & Cleansing
2nd Level: Bathing
3rd Level: Steaming
4th Level: Tea House
The bathhouse does not try to gain complete control of steam. Instead, it only seeks to delay its escape, allowing interaction as the air is held in common.
Featured in Scale Journal, Vol. II: Heresy, 2026
Featured in BEB Archive, 2026
Site: Lincoln, MA
Instructor: Emily Ezquerro
Air, although invisible, reveals itself through thickening. Resulting in what we measure as humidity, this thickening has become a major factor in defining comfort within an environment.
Architecture has tried to come up with solutions to control and mitigate moisture within the air, within a space. However, perhaps the direction is not to gain ultimate control, but to provide room for air to play and misbehave.
This project proposes a bathhouse, thinking around processes like cleansing, bathing, and resting. A steam vent spindles and twists within the bathhouse, harnessing warm air. Treating air as a shared resource, the vertical path made by the thickened air determines the spatial programs within. The steam produced becomes a vessel, a ritual, that serves for communal gathering.
Ground Level: Living & Cleansing
2nd Level: Bathing
3rd Level: Steaming
4th Level: Tea House
The bathhouse does not try to gain complete control of steam. Instead, it only seeks to delay its escape, allowing interaction as the air is held in common.
2025
Fog Studies
Steam Vents
Floor Plans
Section A
Section B
Culminated Research & Physical Models
