Besides the well-planned parks of the cities people need places of retreat, recreation and contemplation. One of these places is the old river bathing facility in Königgrätz. A place far away from the turbulent city, but still near.
There are no hard barriers to cross in order to get there, but rather you’d pass through to a welcoming reclusiveness. A wide meadow crossed by a trail, allotments, an old fence with holes, a dam crowned by a line of changing cubicles and the river running behind it.
The idea is to maintain the calm atmosphere of this place by rebuilding the old ruinous bathing facility in its basic structure and just blending in the new functional buildings.
The Oarsman’s house stands in the middle of the river and offers just the very simple, essential things an oarsman needs – a place to sleep, to eat, a toilet and a workbench for his boat. It lacks electric lighting, warm water, a featherbed and all the other superfluous luxury an oarsman does not need. Those who spend the day alone in a one-man boat want to live in seclusion and in accordance with nature, with the day being determined by the course of the sun.
This reduction to the essential is also the idea the design of the oarsman’s home follows. It is a reliable, firm place to dwell among like-minded people. The house braves all weather and is marked by it. The wooden latches of the facade get their patina and seem to ask for renewal and conservation every day again. Someday this place may fall apart due to erosion, however up to this day it will be a place free from obligations, pressure of time, deadlines and annoying neighbours - a place to spend an unforgettable summer.