Our aim was to construct a landscape connecting terrain with the existing canals in a way that allows visitors to enjoy the water all year round. We devised a solution in which the gabon, a surface system consisting of wirework filled with stone covers and connects the majority of the site. Through pushing, pulling, embedding, and expanding into the earth air and water the gabon forms to create environments that can be occupied from both above and beneath. When the gabon dips into the water, it creates thermal baths and swimming pools. The stones filling the wirework filer the river water as it passes through and beneath the gabon surface unobstructed. When the gabon rises, it produces the Grotto, a cavernous architecture that houses saunas, changing rooms, and sensory deprivation chambers. Though the river provides the majority of the water, it is the onsite power plant that provides the heat. By capturing and rerouting the 200 degree waste heat from the plant, we are able to capitalize on a completely disregarded resources. The hot water is pumped through pipes that direct it towards the thermal baths where it is filtered through the gabon. This project cultivates a warm, steamy, and sublime atmosphere that allows visitors to become lost and seduced by the blurred awareness of the translucent abyss.
