Steam? More STEAM! Using an architectural approach to preserve cultural knowledge in Sudbury, Ontario with a community sauna

Abstract

In many communities, cultural knowledge of communal bathing rituals have been passed for thousands of years. One of which is Finnish cultural knowledge of the sauna bathing ritual. In the 1900s, over 250 000 single origin Finnish people moved and settled in Ontario, Canada.2 However, with Finnish-Canadians, the gaps in the cultural knowledge has increased with subsequent generations. Today, Sudbury is still called home to over 7000 residents with Finnish heritage, however there are no community saunas operating within the city.3 These unsettling issues thus indicated that a thoughtful approach is needed to ensure the passing of Finnish cultural knowledge of the sauna continues; one that does not require users to have Finnish heritage to benefit from the knowledge. This thesis proposes mixing architectural concepts of traditional Finnish sauna building knowledge and design with a community-built approach a design proposal that recognizes these issues and supports the cultivation of the continuity of cultural knowledge.