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 steam room, 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.
