JKMM Architects bring Finnish sauna to Burning Man 2019
by Jane Kitchen | 27 Aug 2019
Revellers at Burning Man this week can get an extra dose of heat in the Nevada Desert as Helsinki-based JKMM architects bring the Steam of Life Pavilion to the festival.
The circle-shaped Steam of Life Pavilion, co-designed by Sauna on Fire collective, has been built to offer the sequenced sauna experience, as a deconstructed art installation.
The timber pavilion is described as “a place for tranquility and contemplation. It’s a process of rejuvenation by the elements of Nordic nature and wisdom, taking one from birth to death and after. It offers a calm heaven to be in peace, or in heat.”
“Steam of Life” embodies the typical physical elements of a Finnish sauna. It is a human scale wooden building, minimalistic in its aesthetic and focused on embracing ambient natural light and shade.
A passageway will guide visitors to circulate through the round shaped sauna pavilion. Stepping in from the harsh desert light, visitors enter a low-lit passage that leads to the steamroom, the heart of a Finnish Sauna, with wooden benches and the “kiuas” stove.
After enjoying a sauna, visitors will enter a softly-lit space opening onto the atrium yard in the middle of the pavilion. In the absence of a lake, sea or a pile of snow to dip into, the atrium yard offers a shaded oasis for cooling down and meditative relaxing.
Burning Man 2019 Finnish Sauna desert JKMM architects
The timber pavilion is described as 'a place for tranquility and contemplation'
A passageway guides visitors to circulate through the round shaped sauna pavilion
02 Feb 2016
MuseumNext names Burning Man CEO Marian Goodell as keynote speaker
08 May 2015
Pavilions designed by architecture students to feature at Burning Man arts festival
Revellers at Burning Man this week can get an extra dose of heat in the Nevada Desert as Helsinki-based JKMM architects bring the Steam of Life Pavilion to the festival. The circle-shaped Steam of Life Pavilion, co-designed by Sauna on Fire collective, has been built to offer the sequenced sauna experience, as a deconstructed art installation. The timber pavilion is described as “a place for tranquility and contemplation. It’s a
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