Pooling Together
Proposal for a Telluric Bathing Ritual
Iceland, Spring 2026
Completed at Sím Residency
Part of Geothermal Culture Research
Pooling Together is the centerpiece of Geothermal Culture, a collection of drawings and models representing my research into thermal pools in Iceland. Stemming from field studies of remote community pools around the island, the work proposes a speculative pool typology that bridge infrastructural aesthetics with an appreciation for the sublime landscape. No matter how outlying or small a village is, the thermal pool is considered a basic social/public good. Against often extreme weather conditions, the local thermal pool is a place to gather together and soak in the warmth of community. I’d like to think that all these pools ultimately tap into one body of water, one source of warmth and delight, coming from the ground.
The design of Pooling Together strings together four water volumes into one cyclical bathing ritual. Each volume contains a specific temperature/phase of water: warm pool - sauna - cold plunge - and hot water tank. Metaphorically and practically, the bodies of water are connected within a raised plinth, allowing the temperature and phase of the water to adjust according to the bathing cycle.
Clad in a utilitarian palette of white pool tile and corrugated metal, these volumes resist conventional delineation between what is infrastructure vs. what is recreation. Instead, they give attention to the landscape from which the hot water flows by framing snapshots of the Icelandic outdoors. In lieu of monumentality, these humble volumes subtly celebrate the reciprocity between renewable energy, leisure, social gathering, and extreme environments.
Research for this work began with a Pool Pilgramage around the island, producing handsketches documenting various scales, ergonomics, and formal dispositions of thermal pools. Material and massing studies were informed by infrastructural typologies found within the bathing and geothermal palette.
Supported by RISD Professional Development Fund and
the Somerson Sustainability Innovation Fund