Tamina Thermal Baths By Smolenicky & Partner
By Jeffrey Hyatt
Why yes, I might I be interested in a few days spent at the Tamina Thermal Baths located in the Grand Resort in Bad Ragaz, Switzerland. Designed by Smolenicky & Partner, the Tamina thermal baths is explicitly conceived as a part of the grand-hotel culture. The cultural and aesthetic identity of the project seeks an affinity to both Swiss tradition and the grand hotels of the Baltic coast. This strategy of using an explicit resort architecture is underscored in the building’s formally fanciful oval windows. Seen from the inside, the windows have the effect of over-dimensional picture frames.
The predominant landscaped, park-like atmosphere remains intact despite the compact manner of building. Thus the resort remains characterized by its park. The main entrance to the thermal baths, the spa spring hall, is set on the visual axis of the cul-de-sac in order, from the main road, to mark its presence in the depth of the site as a public facility. [via contemporist]
