Agata Werochowska

INHALATORIUM

The aim of our project is to create a recreational space for the inhabitants of Florence. The main assumption underlying us during the design process was the conferral of the inhalation function, where the salt graduation works became the main inspiration. The inhalation room along the wall is a multisensory zone where you can forget that you are in a big city. The user, who is surrounded by water vapour enriched with health-promoting microelements, can focus particularly on the process of breathing. This place gave us a pretext to create the lung of Florence. “Inhale – exhale” is the basic sequence when practicing yoga or meditation. Therefore, the passage we designed, whose skeleton was made from a grading plant, may become a suitable place for these practices.The project includes: 1) Pavilion with steam-releasing graduations with aromatapeteutic properties. 2) The paths that stretch from the pavilion to the river Arno and are made of concrete that tends to heat up, releasing the point-shaped irrigation water along the path as steam. Every third ends with a subtle descent into the river, which brings the user directly into contact with the river. 3) Reinforcing element of the experience is a jetty raised above the water, partly covered by a canopy that connects to the local water vegetation. The creative process began with the projects inspired by the Arno River. We wanted her to be an important part of our project. The whole thing was linked to the movement of water and the many possibilities of water extraction. Therefore, the motif of the couple and materials were used that harmonize with its nature and underline its presence. We have considered the time in which the spatial structure is integrated into the fabric of the place/space in the event of a flooding of the site. The greenery there is supposed to absorb more water and so reduce the risk of flooding. Out of respect for the Florentines and their respect for cultural heritage, we have decided to disrupt the fabric as little as possible. We allow the natural course of things without intervening with mechanical structures, based on the elements of nature and its possibilities.