The Posthuman Sauna conceives of architecture not as a static object, but as a metabolic system in which energy, water, gases, and organic matter circulate, are transformed, and reused. The work operates at the intersection of space, climate, technology, and biological processes, developing a spatial experimental setup in which the atmosphere itself becomes an architectural material. In a closed cycle of heat, evaporation, condensation, photosynthesis, and metabolism, a hybrid spatial condition emerges that connects different atmospheres and microclimates and continuously oscillates between them.

In this way, the work ties in directly with the experimental practice of Opposite Office, which views architecture as open spatial research into ecological, technological and social conditions rather than seeing it primarily as the construction of buildings. A defining feature of this practice is the development of speculative infrastructures that reorganise existing relationships between humans, the environment and technology. The Posthuman Sauna extends this approach by treating architecture as an active climatic agent – as a system that produces weather, organises metabolism and makes atmospheric processes visible rather than as an envelope that controls the environment. The term “posthuman” refers here to an architecture in which humans are not the only agents. Rather, climate, plants, microorganisms and technical systems also play a part in shaping space.

The sauna space is neither purely functional nor purely symbolic. It functions simultaneously as a greenhouse, water-treatment facility, thermal body, fermentation space and gathering place. The work thus shifts conventional architectural categories and envisions an infrastructure in which human and non-human agents coexist. Plants, fungi, condensate, CO₂, heat and mist become active components of a shared metabolic system. Architecture no longer appears as an anthropocentric order, and instead becomes a dynamic system of mutual dependencies.

At its centre is the question of how spaces might function in the future under conditions of ecological instability. The Posthuman Sauna imagines a post-apocalyptic situation in which architecture itself must generate essential resources such as heat, water, food, and breathable air. The work proposes a spatial scenario of adaptation and coexistence as opposed to a technological utopia. Through its hybrid materiality – situated between low-tech infrastructure, greenhouse, ritual space, and climate machine – it develops a new conception of architectural autonomy.

The spatial organisation follows thermodynamic processes rather than conventional functional zoning, which divides spaces according to fixed uses. Different temperature and humidity zones are layered vertically, generating an oscillating interior climate of dry heat, tropical humidity, and condensing mist. Architecture becomes legible here as an energetic process. Air circulates, water evaporates and condenses, plants transform CO₂ into oxygen, and heat is stored and distributed. The atmosphere is no longer the background to human use; it is the actual medium of design.

The work thus exemplifies a contemporary architectural practice that moves away from object-oriented form production and instead works with processes, cycles and temporal changes. The Posthuman Sauna combines speculative thinking with material experimentation and develops architecture as an environmental model to be entered and explored. It illustrates how spaces actively contribute to shaping ecological, political and climatic conditions.

The Posthuman Sauna is therefore not a finished object. Rather, it is a prototype: a spatial laboratory in which alternative forms of coexistence between human and non-human actors are tested. Here, architecture becomes a sensitive, atmospheric infrastructure that does not exert control over the environment. Instead, it embeds itself within circular processes of dependency, transformation and regeneration.

Text by Benedikt Hartl
Benedikt Hartl is an architect.