Kastrup Sea Bath
Kastrup, Denmark
Overseas Architecture Spring 2019
colab with Abby Peterson
A connection between the people an the sea, a relationship as old as time. Sea baths have existed far before the Common Era. Used as a protective barrier between the bather and the sea, the sea bath creates a concentrated area for the user to enjoy while being screened from wind and providing areas of shade.
And that brings us to Copenhagen. Completed in 2005 by White Arkitekter from Sweden, the Kastrup Sea Bath has provided the people of the area a hub for activity and leisure by the sea. Standing one meter above the water and stretching 100 meters into the Oresund channel between Denmark and Sweden, this sea bath’s form takes the shape of a perfect circle. Said to be like an extended hand, the curved wall of the structure breaks to open the interior to view the shore and vice versa inviting people in. Being made out of vertical wooden boards, the sea bath’s form resembles a palisade, an ancient wall for defense and enclosure made of wood aligned almost identically to how it is here. The wall at the Kastrup Sea Bath has a similar purpose. Gradually rising from one and a half meters to 8 meters, the enclosure creates a concentrated space of the sea for use and protects its visitors from wind and the afternoon sun.