Meliza Arévalo Garzón h s n s s s h f d d e t e r g e e m j u k l h 00200466

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Roman thermal baths and modern thermal baths, the repetition of

the same concept hundreds of years later

Along the Roman Empire expansion, with their citizens learning more and more every
day, sharing knowledge, and socializing, with the movement of troops to conquer
more land, the architectural creations and contributions became more important
through each government of the emperors. Since each one of them wanted to better
that the last, they used to build bigger and better structures, create new concepts and
conceptualize new and crazy ideas. Going from temples through theaters and all the
way through bigger structures like the colosseum, the pantheon or the aqueducts, all
of them made a contribution and a foundation for future structures and some of them
even survive until the XXI century. Their program has been adapted through the ages
for new buildings all over the world but the essence of this buildings is still the same¡
as it was on the 200 CE. This is what the roman baths, idea first developed during
Nero´s rule as emperor of the roman empire from the year 54 to the year 68 CE, have
been doing for years until now.

Even though Roman citizens had private baths on their houses, the idea of creating a
public bath on the center of the city was still attractive. This concept was not property
of the romans, it came from the Greeks with their gymnasiums in which this spaces
started to became social experiences, but it was modified to turn into what we now
know as thermal baths. The original roman thermal baths were located in strategic
places on the city so anyone was able to reach it. There existed many of this
constructions, each developed by an emperor and so that´s why some were named
after them as there were other named after the city in which were located. During an
uncertain period of time (approximately a century) existed many baths all spreaded
over the empire, the baths of Agrippa, the baths of Caracalla, the baths of Diocletian,
the baths of Constantine, the baths of Titus and of course the baths of Nero; which all
maintained the same ideas and concepts under the first one was developed but their
architecture changed to be better than the last one. The baths of the buildings were
huge because they had to shelter many rooms dedicated for different functions that
the bath required. The main rooms that were a must on each bath complex were the
Apodyterium or Dressing/locker room, the caladarium or main hot room, the
frigidarium or main cold water hall (that sometimes also contained several unheated
pools), the natation or large unheated swimming pool, the palestra or exercise yard
and the tepidarium or warm room and bath that worked as a “heat lock between the
caldarium and the frigidarium. Because these places were known as places for sharing
knowledge, some of these buildings had optional additions like a library, stadium,
theater or other places that also worked for socialization between the users which was
one of the main features of the baths. (Ching, 2017)

These baths followed a sequence in which they were built so you had to complete a
sort of ritual through a sequence of rooms in order to achieve spiritual and also
physical cleansing that ended with a relaxed user that could enjoy with better health
and emotions of the place. This buildings from the roman empire, are not influential
just because of their concept but also of the architecture involving structure and
planning. These structures contained many parts that were later developed
independently on other buildings as well, this creates a foundation and inspiration for
future buildings all over the world, as well as for some during the same empire like the
pantheon which owes its design of the dome to this places. The Dome is a pure roman
contrivance, created mainly in concrete (that was also developed by the romans). The
early appearance found of a dome is located on the baths of Pompeii, it’s a conical
dome that has a circular opening on the top, this model is the precedent for the
outstanding big dome created for the pantheon 2 centuries later.
These structural problems that were solved in this places that romans used to
experiment new techniques as they used to do with the tombs too, helped also to the
creation of the atmosphere and experience of the place.

This new type of buildings created a foundation and from now on this places will
become more and more popular around the world with multiple adaptations. This
concept that was created is still in use, not on an identical way because it has evolved
ever since but with the emotion created through architecture.

A very known example is the Thermes vals by Peter Zumthor. Located in thermal
springs in the Graubünden Canton in Switzerland and considered his masterpiece
project, this building uses many of the concepts and ideas that were developed with
the creation of the roman baths. The first and most important is the relation that he
creates with the emotional aspect that he wants to transmit to the user, as he says in
his book “atmospheres”:
We perceive an atmosphere through our emotional sensibility – a form of
perception that works incredibly quickly, and which we humans evidently need
to help us survive, not every situation grants us time to make up our minds on
whether or not we like something or whether indeed we might be better
heading off in opposite direction. Something inside us tells us an enormous
amount of straight away we are capable of immediate appreciation, of a
spontaneous emotional response, of rejecting thing in a flash.
(Zumthor, Atmósferas, entornos arquitectónicos, las cosas a mi alrededor,
2006, pág. 12)
Here he explains how humans respond to things they like or don´t like and this is in
what he focuses with his project, the building is like stone carved into a mountain, the
spaces on the interior are guided by narrow corridors, very tall ceilings and light
entrances to different spaces and which provide a complete sensorial experience.
Another important features of this building are the division of spaces into rooms with
different functions, the sequence created by the architecture on the building and the
socialization between users on the public spaces this place has. Other great feature of
this place is the relationship it has with the environment, it has been built between
and buried on a mountain, the same mountain that provides the hot water for the
complex, the main material used for the building is rock, the appearance that the
architect wanted to achieve with this idea was to pretend that the building is part of
the natural environment in which is located and that, even though is the last addition
of the complex of buildings on the site, appear that it has existed before everything
else there. (Zumthor, Termas de piedra en vals (Peter Zumthor), 2013)

Other example of an adaptation of this essence is located in Japan, here this places are
called “Onsen” which means hot spring. There are many sites around japan that
contain natural hot springs, this is where this onsen are placed, and some also come
with lodging and restaurants because of the location far from the city, but there are
also some onsen created in the city to make it easier for people to go.
The concept for this places comes from a belief that Japanese people had a long time
ago. They thought, and still think, that the water that comes from the hot springs is
sacred, that these water has healing properties, that they could make you have a
longer and greater life, that landscapes had a big influence of healing and relaxation
processes as well and a very important connection with spiritual cleansing. It is not
certain that this concepts had come directly from the roman beliefs but the similarities
of the buildings and the experiences that these evoke made us think that they might
have had an influence from them. (Serbulea, 2012)

Now in the modern societies, and as a complement for entertainment of the human
being we can find places that are focused on only one of this rooms functions that the
baths had, like the swimming pools or the spas in which we have isolated one aspect
from the different spaces of the roman baths and used them to create a new and more
independent place that is only dedicated to this particular function. This has helped
the evolution and development of the modern baths.

A proper, and closer, example is located right here in Ecuador, the Papallacta thermes.
This place gathers the hot water from the volcanoes that surround it, which are the
Antisana and the Cayambe. The architecture of the place tries to simulate the
surroundings, it contains cabins for lodging, natural paths to explore the environment,
some restaurants and social public spaces with televisions, books and board games; all
of this places that help us complement the experience but without reducing the
attention of the main component of the resort that is the pool resort.
Related to the roman baths main concept we have the areas in which the pools are
located. They are organized with different sizes and organic form - shaped pools, they
use rocks as the main material. These pools are at open outdoor spaces interacting
with each other and with a cold-water pool in the middle of them, the pools are big
enough to become swimming pools but some also have seats incorporated to relax
and enjoy.
There are more private pools, also in outdoor spaces but located in front of each cabin
for exclusive users to benefit from. There are spas and more private rooms for
relaxation as well.

All of these examples, the most relevant and similar to the original baths involving
essence and ideas on the modern era that I could find, have something in common. All
of the are focused on the experience, they try to make the user comfortable after,
during and before the bath; they make the user feel like it is going through a ritual of
spiritual cleansing, physical cleansing and relaxation, and las but not least they also
have become places of social gathering.
These ideas are not only present on architecture, a few of this concepts like spiritual
cleansing, experiential events and socialization through public spaces are applied to
other subjects foreign to the architectural field.
Like on art with the paintings, artworks, sculptural pieces and entire exhibitions that
are created by the artist to evoke a feeling, to generate an experience, to make the
consumer participate and let them feel they are part of a communal emotion through
their work. Art has also evolved through centuries, creating and modificating concepts
as the progress and many of this are influenced by architecture and the experience it
generates on someone.
But as we are talking about architecture we can emphasize on a very important aspect
that the baths have inherited us, cleaning.
On human history, the idea of clean has had its high and low pints, like with the baths
was on a high importance level but centuries later, starting on the medieval period,
hygiene became a secondary issue for people, later with the modernization of the
cities in Europe it began to gain significance on the society again and since then it has
only been rising its level.

On architecture and the development of modern buildings there is an interesting

thesis established by Mark Wigley on his book White Walls, Designer dresses: the
fashioning of modern architecture. In which he argues about how” architects and
influences of the modern movement used the fashion and “whiteness” in shaping the
new style, and that these two tropes allowed modernism to come into being.” (The
MIT press, 1995) he talks about how the avant – garde technique that defines
modernity was the use of the color white as a metaphoric symbol of modern and slim
ideas on the buildings, and also in a literal way with the use of white walls. White color
is the most obvious symbol of clean, it also represents pureness, innocence, peace,
spirit, good, and more related to the subject. By portraying the meaning of this color,
and sometimes even with a literal representation of it, influential architects that
appeared during the modern movement (like Le Corbusier, Adolf Loos, Hermann
Muthesius, Otto Wagner, Walter Gropius and some others) created their projects.
They made their projects so that people could understand that the world was
changing, that they had to change as well, and that the only way to do it was getting
over the past movements that were so disorganized, overloaded on ornaments and
color, and that had so many dirty pieces on them.
This process of changing could be seen as a cleansing swap along architecture, with the
elimination of multiple elements, the abstraction of forms, pieces and materials in
order to get a better result were what motivated them to use their main principle that
was creating in order of the program without caring much on the exterior outcome
that could emerge from it. Wigley compares this with fashion and arguments that it all
comes from the same idea even though their principles are completely divergent one
with the other, he says that the architects on the modern era were creating a new
fashionable style for everyone. This new style will be accepted on the society as it
occurs with fashion, everyone would want it, everyone would presume it and it will
become popular in no time. This happens because, with modernity also new ideas
appeared like capitalism, this new system will make people want everything without
caring about the money, the personal cost or the sacrifice they have to make to get it.
With all of these examples, either talking on architectural influences on buildings or
ideology changes through the years, we can see how the roman baths have become
guidelines and a base for new creations, by the use of repetition we have achieved
what we possess now as a humanity in advance. With the help of the roman architects,
designers, builders, and workers that created this masterpieces we have molded a
basic principle that has defined an important part of the society. It includes
entertainment, relaxation, culture, social gathering and the most important of them
all, the sharing of knowledge, that started with the ancient civilizations and their
legacy and continued until now with us using and interpreting their ideas for our
newest creations. All we have to do know is thank, use them wisely, and start to
appreciate what we have now because it could change completely in no time.

Bibliography
Ching, F. J. (2017). A global history of architecture. Hoboken: Wiley.
Zumthor, P. (2006). Atmósferas, entornos arquitectónicos, las cosas a mi alrededor.
Barcelona: Gustavo Gili.
Serbulea, M. &. (2012). Onsen (hot springs) in Japan—Transforming terrain into
healing landscapes. 18, 1366–1373. Retrieved from
https://doi.org.ezbiblio.usfq.edu.ec/10.1016/j.healthplace.2012.06.020
Zumthor, P. (2013). Termas de piedra en vals (Peter Zumthor). (R. Copans, Interviewer)
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1UVmNevN5s
The MIT press. (1995). White walls, Designer dresses: the fashioning of the modern
architecture. In M. Wigley.