Gallery 3 — Cat Daigle.

Inhabitable Sauna.

2nd Year Studio

Designed specifically for both humans and animals - the inhabitable Sauna is intended to decompose over time and eventually return itself to the natural environment; restoring the habitats lost within its build.

This design was developed in my 2nd-year studio as a project that seeks to complete the natural cycle lacking from the design world; focusing on the level of craft accomplished within the natural environment and translating it into an exploration of the level of permanency sought out in modern Architecture; critiquing what is a fundamentally acceptable lifecycle of any given project.

This process makes way for a design approach that seeks to sustain a given lifecycle and over time gradually decomposes itself back into the environment in which it came through the building with natural and time-sensitive materials. I believe this is a valuable area of exploration as it holds the potential to redefine what it means to be an environmentally sustainable project, offering a new look into our values and desires within a world where permanency is so heavily desired and yet so widely misunderstood.

Life Cycle;

Render.

An Invitation;

Concept.

We as designers are often planning, prolonging, and enhancing the expected lifecycle of the designed world. This behavior often does not leave room for the consideration of any method of design other than permanent.

Upon conducting a site analysis of the research forest, I was visited by some feathered friends as the lecture took place downwind. While others discussed concepts of the traditional green roof/bee hotel NetZero design strategies, no one actually considered inviting the species inside - but why?

All findings suggested that this was a recovering ecosystem - encouraging me to question a human presence on the site altogether…

“I’ve often found that this time of year suggests something beginning rather than ending - that something is happening - that something is rotting - and that something is decaying far beyond our understanding of the oranges and reds -
This time of year is about digesting your surroundings in means of preparation - preparation to disintegrate oneself into a larger environment; to obtain every form of nutrients possible and release it back into the place in which it came, for we often walk around too hungry to notice that just as rot fosters life, we too feed out of such crimson soils”

Building;

Design.

The design of the sauna draws upon the history of the site, as the area was once home to an environmentally rich area prior to its destruction by mining and pollution, Bennett Lake had been devasted by man up until the initiation of its regreening process. This initiative resulted in its current environmental status as a recovering and vulnerable ecosystem.

The interior of the sauna uses local yellow birch for a warm and inviting feel, whereas the exterior uses eastern white cedar to show age and eventually decay over time.