Tamina Thermal Baths By Smolenicky & Partner

Joseph Smolenicky’s ‘picture perfect’ Tamina Thermal baths for the Grand Resort in Bad Ragaz, Switzerland play with both structural relationships and historical context.

A trip through Switzerland is not complete without experiencing the local bathing culture, which is epitomized by a new spa in Bad Ragaz. During the belle epoqué, Swiss tourism flourished, leading to the erection of monumental hotels in the Alpine landscape. While designing thermae for the Grand Resort in Bad Ragaz, Joseph Smolenicky had famous resorts in mind, such as Interlaken, St Moritz and Gstaad. ‘I don’t determine how a building should look,’ he says. ‘It’s determined by the context.’

The snow-white spa stands out sharply against the natural backdrop of the shady side of the Rhine Valley. ‘The building itself is a source of light,’ says Smolenicky. ‘This is the whitest white I have ever used.’ The building’s large windows, which evoke an image of enormous oval picture frames, are intended to ‘lend more importance to the rather unexceptional landscape surrounding the resort’. The same curve comes back in the many soaring columns that encircle the various baths, in the manner of trees bordering a clearing in the forest. To realize so many columns within the limited budget he was given, Smolenicky had to use timber. Not only a less expensive material than marble, for instance, wood also allowed the architect to ‘reduce the monumentality of the structure. The cladding reminds you of a small wooden house, which makes the architecture more human. Architecture is not a play of power but a play of engagement. Architecture should be interesting.’

Bad Ragaz is only about 70 km from Peter Zumthor’s world-famous Spa Vals, a building that features rough and polished stone, both meant to stir the senses. ‘Zumthor takes a completely different approach. He wants to create something archaic. The vicinity of Vals has no rich culture, only small, simple houses,’ explains Smolenicky. ‘Bad Ragaz, on the other hand, is home to many large buildings. An architect has to ask himself what makes sense in this context – how does the building fit into this world? Architecture is part of public space; it belongs to everyone. Interior design is more individualistic. What I miss quite often in interior design are powerful statements, but what I miss in architecture is the idea of working together to design our world. I miss conventions.’

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