A white model of four clustered shell domes with deeply ribbed, flowing surfaces.

Hamami: Tool to Sensual Landscape

Greg Lynn Studio, University of Applied Arts Vienna

A concrete-shell hamam for Istanbul, generated from RGB maps of acoustics, light and heat, with gelatin-mould and thin-shell plaster casting research.

Year
2018–2019
Type
Render
Role
Co-author
Location
Istanbul, TR

The brief was a concrete shell structure for a hamam in Istanbul. Using structural analysis and energy design tools, the shell had to work as a system that shapes the space and its qualities. We built a tool that allows a dramatic shift of sensation within one space by controlling the shell’s geometry in response to environmental conditions.

We chose three effects: acoustics, since the hamam is exceptionally reverberant; lighting, given the changing qualities of light in the space; and thermodynamics, given the importance of heat. Each became a channel in a pixel-based map — green for acoustics, red for the density of openings for light, blue for the distribution of heat on the floor (the navel). Because the maps could be drawn by hand or generated automatically, we had a nearly limitless combination of spaces to choose from.

Three coloured maps — green for acoustics, red for lighting, blue for heat — each above the surface it generates, and a combined RGB map.
01 Acoustic, lighting and thermal maps, and their RGB composite.
A large grid of green and blue patterned cells, each a different generated option.
02 So many options — variations generated from the maps.
Plan drawing of the shells beside the same plan coloured by the RGB maps.
03 Plan — communal wing and intimate wing.
Section through three shells labelled cool, warm and hot space.
04 Section through cool, warm and hot spaces.

We chose two options: one with more intimate effects and spatial qualities, one more communal. The interstitial spaces between them still needed shelter, so a self-supporting outer shell system encloses them and separates the baths from the city. Inner and outer shells are corrugated according to the forces acting on them under gravity, which reduces their thickness and increases their stability.

Close-up of a white shell surface with flowing ribs and rows of small perforations.
05 The corrugated skin.
Black-and-white photo of a cast shell model with a ribbed, draped-looking surface.
06 Cast model.

For the models we developed a reusable gelatin mould: gelatin mixed with glycerine and water makes a firm material similar to silicone, at a fraction of the price, and it can be re-melted and re-cast. Gelatin was cast around 3D-printed positives; once cured, the print was removed and plaster poured in its place. For larger pieces — up to 40 × 25 × 10 cm — we adapted the formula with more gelatin and less glycerine, mixing 30 litres in total.

Hands holding a translucent amber gelatin mould with a white plaster cast inside.
07 Gelatin mould with a plaster cast.
Three small plaster tiles cast with ribbed patterns.
08 Small-scale casts.

For thin shells we built supports from wooden sticks and tape as ribs, laid plaster bandages across them and painted both sides with liquid plaster, adding layers until the 2–3 mm shell could stand without its supports. A projector drew the reinforcement lines from the digital model onto the surface.

Strips of yellow tape stretched between wooden sticks as temporary ribs.
09 Stick-and-tape rib supports.
A white plaster surface in a tray with a red line marked across it.
10 Reinforcement line marked on the plaster.
Black-and-white photo of a plaster shell cast cut in section, showing its thin wall.
11 Cast shell in section.