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来自加州 Santa Monica的Steven Christensen建筑事务所凭借Liepāja温泉酒店设计，获得了享誉全球的美国建筑奖2016年休闲娱乐建筑分类的银奖。

Steven Christensen Architecture of Santa Monica, California has been named a winner in the first annual AAP American Architecture Prize, which recognizes the most outstanding architecture worldwide.

▼ 建筑外观，External View

Liepāja温泉酒店的设计以在漫长建筑历史，尤其是以成为公共浴室中不可或缺的空间类型出发。拱顶是公共浴室建筑设计史上极为重要，也是极富代表性的空间组织元素。它代表着罗马浴室建筑最前沿的建造技术，为无数中世纪奥斯曼帝国浴场创造出昏暗而又神秘的氛围，并一直延续到文艺复兴与巴洛克时期的建筑中去。而在这些建筑之中，拱顶在空间组织与氛围营造中的关系相伴而生，通过强化空间的向心性与独特性，进一步突出了其下部圆形的重要地位。

凭借着极为高效的空间与氛围塑造，拱顶受到了希望能够强化君主制、一神论或是独裁统治等中央集权制概念的出资者的青睐。在20世纪初，这种形式因与政治的相关性而受到了质疑，而其古典形式也经过了后现代主义的改良，但法西斯的烙印从未完全从拱顶上洗去。

The design for Liepāja Thermal Bath and Hotel originates from a keen interest in the formal associations of the dome throughout architectural history, and more precisely, its role within the typology of the public bath. The dome has been an important organizational and representational device throughout the history of the public bath, playing a central role in the most technologically innovative Roman bathing structures, through the myriad dim and atmospheric medieval Ottoman examples, and continuing on into countless Renaissance and Baroque precedents. The dome’s semiological and organizational roles in these structures are closely aligned: by reinforcing centrality and singularity, the form renders unmistakably explicit the primacy of the circle of space directly below.

The representational efficiency of the dome has made it a favorite among patrons with an interest in reinforcing the notion of a centralized and singular power system, whether that system is absolute monarchy, monotheism, hegemonic dictatorship, etc. Not surprisingly, the form acquired more than a few problematic political associations during the first part of the 20th century, and despite postmodernism’s light hand with classical form, the dome has never been fully rubbed clean of its fascist tarnish.

▼ 建筑立面上交错的圆拱，The serendipitous intersection of spherical forms on the facade

建筑师试图通过挑战拱顶的向心性和等级制倾向，颠覆了拱顶传统的象征意义。从球体最原始的形态和生成机制出发，建筑师打造了一个或正或反的多重拱顶空间，延绵生长、环环相扣，仿佛是当代民主、平等与日益紧密相连的社会制度的象征。球形的空间相互交错创造出一个个独特的小空间，以其社会政治概念为基础，打造出一个生机勃勃的反传统空间体验。

The design seeks to undermine the conventional symbolic performance of the much maligned hemisphere by challenging its centripetal tendencies as well as its hierarchical bias. Working with its generative primitive, the sphere, we propose a multiplicity of domes, both upright and inverted, as a rhizomatic formal and organizational embodiment of a contemporary public that is democratic, horizontally empowered, and increasingly networked. Capitalizing on the seemingly serendipitous intersection of these friendly spherical forms, as well as the unique spaces between them within the poché, the project uses its sociopolitical conceptual foundation in service of an unorthodox spatial experience that is both spirited and atmospheric.

▼ 延绵拱形下的使用空间，functional spaces under the dorms

美国建筑奖共颁发了建筑、景观和室内设计下的41个分类奖项。而Steven Christensen建筑事务所凭借Liepāja温泉酒店设计，获得了休闲娱乐建筑分类的银奖。此外，Liepāja温泉酒店设计方案还获得了欧美多个大奖的认可。

The AAP American Architecture Prize honors exceptional designs in 41 categories across three disciplines: architectural design, interior design, and landscape architecture. The firm’s design for Liepāja Thermal Bath won a Silver Award for Recreational Architecture.

In addition to the recent AAP award, the firm’s design for Liepāja Thermal Bath has won a Gold Award at the IDA International Design Awards, an AZ Award and People’s Choice Award from Azure Magazine, a Citation Award from the American Institute of Architects, and an American Architecture Award from the Chicago Athenaeum and the European Centre for Architecture, Art, Design and Urban Studies.

▼ 总平面图，Site plan

▼ 一层平面，First floor

▼ 二层平面，Second floor

Location: Liepāja, Latvia
Team: Steven Christensen (Principal), Devon Montminy, Cori Gunderson, Ingrid Lao
Status: Competition Entry

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