Monolithic blocks housing various functions are assembled in recurring figurative patterns, modeling a circulation path that leads bathers to predetermined points but also gives them the freedom to explore areas for themselves. Zumthor exercises controlled perspectives that clearly ensure or deny views, giving each space a distinct spatial quality while integrating each into a larger whole.

1 . 2 . precedent index

"During the course of construction, the blocks have acquired names which indicate what these different functions are…fire bath, flower bath, cold bath, sounding stone."(Zumthor, p.13)

right: (top) recurring patterns of stone and water (Zumthor, p.9); (bottom) functional masses follow orthogonal ordering lines (Zumthor, p.23)