Expo Sauna Kyly

Sauna is an important place for Finns: not just a place for washing, but an opportunity for relaxation and personal reflection. JKMM Architects invited Avanto Architects to design the vip -sauna department in Finnish pavilion in Shanghai Expo 2010 using Kyly concept. The first version of Kyly-sauna, designed by Ville Hara and Anu Puustinen of Avanto Architects, won the sauna design competition of the Helsinki Furniture Fair in 2009. Built of timber, this space provides a setting for almost ritualistic sauna bathing and highlights its various stages: undressing, enjoying the heat, washing and cooling off. Kyly is an old Karelian word and means sauna or bathing. The sauna is built by simply laying logs over each other, resulting in an intimate composition of several spaces. In the EXPO sauna the structure of the logs is hollow to keep the sauna as lightweight as possible and still keeping the feel of the timber. The air pocket inside each log works as insulation. Moreover the structure is easy to dismantle and to put up again for future use. The sequence of spaces starts by stepping into a dimly lit, wooden sauna lounge from the ballyhoo of the surroundings. You undress in an enclosed dressing room. A shower space is set one step further. The most intimate space is uppermost - the sauna. A rich composition of spaces is created with very simple means. The smell, texture and acoustic properties of wood create a strong atmosphere - a calm wooden nest. Kyly is a modern interpretation of a traditional log sauna. It represents both the timeless qualities and the contemporary concept of wellbeing.