Fading Thresholds [A Journey of Self]

FINALIST of London Urban Retreat: Haggerston Public Baths

+ FINALIST

London Urban Retreat: Haggerston Public Baths

[19737]

Fading Thresholds [A Journey of Self]

Team

Name: Francesco Ioriatti

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/francesco_ioriatti

Nationality: Italy

Institution: Politecnico di Milano

Name: Carlo Maria Gagliardi

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ilcarlettofotografoditurno

Nationality: Italy

Institution: Politecnico di Milano

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Conceived as vibrant and dynamic spaces, but also frenetic and demanding, cities often absorb parts of the individual that are difficult to regain on one’s own. The role of a space conceived as an urban retreat is to allow the individual to reclaim themselves and what they have lost.

The project fading thresholds reimagines the former Haggerston baths as a sanctuary of introspection and self-expression, a decompression journey designed to reclaim the self from the erosion of urban frenzy. Rather than a sharp rupture from the city, the architecture guides the individual through a rhythmic sequence of thresholds with progressively decreasing social intensity.

The climax of this progression is the where the central pool used to be, now a glass cube conceived as a core of absolute isolation. Immersed in silence and protected nature, the individual finally reaches the contemplative state necessary to regain control over their own life. Through this deliberate layering, the project transforms architecture into a healing process, leading the visitor from the complexity of the metropolis to the essential purity of the central void.

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Jury Comments

– Josefine Fokdal

This project is thought as a journey – like an onion – in which each layer invites to more reflection and recreation. An actual spatial program is missing.