Establishing Order and Relation in the Les Jardins de Médongaule: BATH | Pezo von Ellrichshausen

SPACE July 2026 (No. 704)

 

Image courtesy of Pezo von Ellrichshausen 

 

 

In contrast to other buildings and pavilions within the Les Jardins de Médongaule, this is a hidden piece of infrastructure half-buried in the natural topography. The bathroom block works as a transversal element that connects both sides of the circulation ring. It takes the form of a long horizontal bar, a thin volume with the proportion of a retaining wall that disappears beneath lush vegetation. Meeting the desired double access from the ring, its total length is divided into two sets of bathrooms; each side with male and female services. In a direct gesture of integration with the axial symmetry of the existing BUDA pergola and garden, the discrete rectangular block has a central opening that leads towards a resting place, to a shaded grotto-like room lit by a large skylight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since three sides of the long volume are sunken into the terrain, the only exposed side has been delineated as a frontal classical façade composed by columns and beams. Regular textures, bas-reliefs and climber plants covering the walls further accentuate the quiet and guarded presence of this elevation. The roof also dissolves into the landscape through its grassy green carpet, thus rendering the block invisible when looking downhill from KAZA pavilion and the REST beyond. Despite the elusive scale of the building, each bathroom is rather generous in space; the simple and austere rectangular rooms allow for multiple, exchangeable functions (without discriminating gender or disabilities). In line with its infrastructural character, the whole building is meant to be a dark grey concrete construction, with mirrors and white ceramic mosaics introduced for decorative purposes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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