My Banya, Your Banya: From Reality to Myth

In Russian society the value of the collective and the common was always very high, even before the USSR. This collectivism expressed itself on many different levels, but spatially it was especially representative in the form of the banya, a traditional Russian steam bath. Through the figure of the banya, collective nakedness and communal intimacy became a cultural condition, and one that developed though many historical periods. As a type, the banya evolved from the traditional extension to a house, through a collective space in the USSR, to a contemporary, multifunctional entertainment space. Banya contains myths in it, whether it is a creature Bannik from a Slavic folklore or a communist myth. In many ways, the history of the country can be seen through the transformation of this type. Even though the banya is a traditional type in Russia, it is only ever defined by its interiors and structure, and never codified or celebrated as a distinct architectural form. Despite its cultural and infrastructural significance, this type has not been studied before. The aim of this project is therefore to document and analyse the history of the banya, to create an archaeology of this type and understand how it remains relevant as both an interior form, and even as a urban model in contemporary Russia. Therefore the archival research is been made and the timeline of development of that type is documented. The architectural taxonomy of the type was based on archives of Saint Petersburg. This city is said to be a city of Banyas. Historically, the land on which the city sits was a swamp, reclaimed by a polder – artificial, experimental land. It is a fake city. The urban facades make Saint Petersburg look like the city of Peter the Great, but when you look inside any arch you see Dostoevsky city inside. It is also a city that has both, Dutch and Italian qualities. Perhaps the only Russian thing about St Petersburg are the banyas. All banyas from the archival material are exist or existed in Saint Petersburg, which makes this city a perfect example that contains all this patterns of spaces and different degrees of shared intimacy in the city. The study of the type had been conceptualised through the categories of that intimacy, like ‘individual perception’, ‘select collectiveness’, ‘hierarchal collectiveness’, ‘ideological collectiveness’ and ‘ultimate collectiveness’. Ironically, these degrees of intimacy demonstrate private-public issues, hierarchy, complex relations of genders and many other layers of myths through the most unvarnished state, the state of nakedness.The Berlage Master of ScienceBerlage InstituteArchitecture and The Built Environmen