One Man Sauna - Idleness (dismantled)

modulorbeat realized a temporary "One Man Sauna" for the oneyear international city project and art festival "DAS DETROITPROJEKT" in Bochum. Context The announced closing of the Opel factories in Bochum marks a second end of an era in the city in the RuhrArea. The first phase was characterized by the mining industry, the second by the formerly biggest employer GM/Opel. But what comes after that? Where do inspiring innovations and courageous concepts for the future come from? How are we going to organize labor, culture, the economy, education, and research in the future? How can we set up our city anew for the future? "DAS DETROIT PROJEKT" connects European "Opel cities" and asks questions about the future of urban living, working, and art and develops possibilities and chances for the future. Project

With One Man Sauna, the architects` collective modulorbeat formulated a temporary homage to 'idleness' in Bochum. On an abandoned factory site in Bochum a tower of 7,5 metres height made of stacked pre-cast concrete parts, which were originally used for building shafts, houses a sauna for one person. At the bottom is a wading pool, at the midpoint is a sauna booth, and the top a rest room with an open view into the sky. Vertical ladders link the three floors. Right in the middle of Bochum, in an industrial landscape, the fully functioning sauna create a place that encourages both rest and activity and that, in the context of "DAS DETROIT-PROJEKT", urges visitors to think about the future of work an the city in a region without growth.