Taro Shimokawa (AMANE ARCHITECTS)

A sauna is a unique space where strangers share an extremely close distance. This project proposes the idea of walls that neither approach nor separate, aiming for a new form of publicness grounded in Japanese sensibility. Discretely placed walls responding to the vertical rhythm of the forest adjust sightlines and presence, delicately controlling intimacy. Set in the forest of Takeo Saga, the wooden sauna leads users through a spiral circulation toward rooftop air bathing. An irregular plan and benches facing multiple directions balance shared experience with privacy, questioning the quality of relationships within public land.