Duality / Fluidity -- Yin-Yang and bath house

Abstract

This thesis attempts to synthesize different design issues that revolve around the program of a public bathhouse in a bustling cultural district in Beijing, China. While the larger design framework evolves from the basics of bathing - the themes of earth, water and light, other design considerations that reflect the roots of Chinese traditions , namely, the configuration which is the metaphor of the garden and the memory of the culture, the concepts of yin-yang and modularity, the spatial order of man and woman, the sensuality and physicality of wetness and dryness, etc., have been explored. The thesis explores how different strategies that are exhibited in traditional Chinese art forms - the concepts of duality and fluidity - can inform the design to create architecture that is modern, yet at the same time Chinese.