‘ridiculously good-looking saunas’ showcases 36 design-led thermal retreats worldwide - 【Free CAD Download World-Download CAD Drawings】

gestalten’s book charts the global rise of design-led saunas

Ridiculously Good-Looking Saunas, published by gestalten, a publication edited with sauna designer and maker Christopher Selman, documents the growing architectural and cultural revival of the thermal retreats. The 256-page volume gathers 36 projects from across the globe, from remote wilderness structures to floating urban installations. The book frames the sauna as a shared spatial ritual that connects contemporary architecture with evolving social habits and a growing interest in more intentional ways of gathering. Through full-color photography and project documentation, the book traces the new generation of sauna architecture. Projects range from small mobile structures to sculptural public installations.

Among the projects featured is Sauna Bivak in Hungary, a minimalist mobile sauna raised on slender legs and clad in charred timber, designed to be easily transported and positioned along the Danube. In Sweden, the reflective Solar Egg forms a monumental ovoid volume composed of 69 mirror-polished panels that scatter reflections of the surrounding landscape. On Japan’s Naoshima Island, SAZAE by Kengo Kuma & Associates spirals inward through more than 4,000 pieces of hinoki cypress toward a central hearth.

Solar Egg | image by Jean-Baptiste Beranger

heat rituals beyond the nordic world

Co-editor Christopher Selman, co-founder of the Devon-based sauna studio Out of the Valley, approaches the subject from both a designer’s and traveller’s perspective. Inspired early by the sauna rituals of his Finnish aunt, Selman spent a year visiting more than one hundred thermal spaces around the world, from Japanese onsen to floating saunas in Tasmania, tracing how the practice continues to evolve across cultures and landscapes.

The projects included in gestalten’s Ridiculously Good-Looking Saunas reflect how sauna traditions are being adapted across geographies and climates. In Canada, the Nimmo Bay Wilderness Resort Sauna sits deep within coastal forest, accessible only by kayak or paddleboard, offering panoramic views before a plunge into the Pacific. Norway’s Trevarefabrikken sauna occupies the rocky edge of the Lofoten Islands, where bathers move directly between steam and the icy waters of the Vestfjord.

Elsewhere, designers experiment with new contexts for the typology. The Floating Sauna Lake Derby in Tasmania anchors the ritual within Australia’s mountain biking landscape, while The Sauna Float in Connecticut repurposes a pontoon boat into a wood-fired retreat complete with a rooftop deck. In the Scottish Highlands, woodland saunas embed themselves within pine forests, emphasizing scent, atmosphere, and immersion in the surrounding terrain.

SAZAE by Kengo Kuma, Japan | image by Keishin Korikoshi

a contemporary social space

The book, published by gestalten, situates these projects within a wider cultural shift. Sauna culture is increasingly embraced by younger generations seeking alternatives to digitally saturated lifestyles and alcohol-centered socializing. In the UK, communal saunas have even been described as the new pub, offering shared spaces for conversation and relaxation without the pressure of drinking culture.

Beyond architecture and social ritual, Ridiculously Good-Looking Saunas also touches on the physiological research associated with sauna bathing. Studies link regular use with improved cardiovascular performance and possible reductions in neurodegenerative disease risk. The publication references the Japanese concept of totonou, describing the euphoric post-sauna state of equilibrium, alongside the Finnish notion of löyly, the spiritual dimension of the steam rising from heated stones.

Nimmo Bay Wilderness Resort Sauna | image by Jeremy Koreski