HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Spanien Public Baths ( Danish: Badeanstalten Spanien), colloquially known simply as ''Spanien'', is a public bath house and a
listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
in
Aarhus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus municipality, Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and app ...
,
Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...
. The bath house was completed in 1931 and was listed on the Danish national registry of protected buildings and places by the Danish Heritage Agency on 15 February 1989 as a fine example of the Nordic funkis style. The building was thoroughly renovated in 2010–12. The name ''Spanien'' (Spain) refers to the harbour district street where the bath house is situated. In Denmark, harbour district streets are normally named after foreign destinations.


History

In 1926, the at the time only public bath house in Aarhus closed and it was decided that a new one was to be built on an available lot on the street of ''Spanien''. The project was budgeted at 750,000
Danish Kroner The krone (; plural: ''kroner''; currency sign, sign: kr.; ISO 4217, code: DKK) is the official currency of Denmark, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands, introduced on 1 January 1875. Both the ISO code "DKK" and currency sign "kr." are in common ...
. Construction commenced in 1931 and was completed in 1933 but at a cost twice as high as initially projected. The finished building included an
Olympic-size swimming pool An Olympic-size swimming pool is a swimming pool which conforms to the regulations for length, breadth, and depth made by World Aquatics (formerly FINA) for swimming at the Summer Olympics and the swimming events at the World Aquatics Champions ...
, public showers on the ground floor, a luxury department on the 3rd floor, restaurant, hairdresser and other facilities. Spanien was constructed with the newest technology in mind. There was a system to create artificial
pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...
-scented rain, underwater lighting, heated floors surrounding the pools, seawater was piped from the condensers of the nearby
power plant A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...
, in the saunas chairs made of steel pipes were water cooled and every department had a phone line. The technological solutions drew much attention at the time and some 60,000 visitors, mainly from
Jutland Jutland (; , ''Jyske Halvø'' or ''Cimbriske Halvø''; , ''Kimbrische Halbinsel'' or ''Jütische Halbinsel'') is a peninsula of Northern Europe that forms the continental portion of Denmark and part of northern Germany (Schleswig-Holstein). It ...
, came to see the new state of the art bath house and pool. In the 1930s, the swimming pool was frequently used for international competitions and numerous world records were set here. Prominent local swimmers at the time was Kirsten Busch-Sørensen, Fritze Nathansen og Eva Arndt.


Architecture and design

Spanien Public Baths was designed by city engineer
Frederik Draiby Frederik Marius Draiby (28 April 1877 in Kirke Helsinge on western Zealand — 16 April 1966 in Aarhus) was a Denmark, Danish architect and the first city engineer of Aarhus. Until his retirement in 1943 Frederik Draiby impacted the architecture ...
and is a good example of Nordic
functionalist architecture In architecture, functionalism is the principle that buildings should be designed based solely on their purpose and function. An international functionalist architecture movement emerged in the wake of World War I, as part of the wave of Modernis ...
, commonly referred to as Nordic "funkis". It is a massive four-story building with a six-story tower, all in red brick and topped with plated copper
hip roof A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downward to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope, with variants including Tented roof, tented roofs and others. Thus, a hipped roof has no gables or other ve ...
s. Brick and copper are typical Danish building materials. The whole building has a spartan, clean style in the spirit of functionalism. The large main building is mostly free of decorations but the tower features flat brick columns reminiscent of classical pilastres. Classical Greek elements can also be found in some architectural details inside the swimming hall itself. The interior of the building is painted very colorful, breaking stylistically with the simple exterior and communicating the purpose of various areas and spaces, a characteristic feature of Nordic funkis. Marble, sandstone and polished stainless steel is used extensively inside the bathhouse and the railings and architectural glazing, both featuring prominently throughout, are other tell-tale signs of this particular architectural direction. Badeanstalten Spanien (indgang).jpg, Main entrances Badeanstalten Spanien (vinduer).jpg, Windows Badeanstalten Spanien (opgang).jpg, Entry stairwell and architectural glazing Badeanstalten Spanien (trapper) 01.jpg, Entry stairwell, detail Opholdsrum (Badeanstalten Spanien).jpg, First floor details Frisør (Badeanstalten Spanien).jpg, Detail. Hairdresser signage. Svømmehallen (BAS) 2.jpg, The swimming hall. From the 1st floor balcony.


Facilities

The facilities were initially designed both to cater to the needs of the many working class citizens who lived without heated water and bathrooms in their city homes, and as a wellness facility for wealthier citizens. In modern times, there is no longer the same imminent need to cater for basic hygienic needs of the citizens so it was decided to repurpose larger parts of the interior in combination with a thorough renovation of the whole building. This project was realised between 2012 and 2014. Today the swimminghall holds a 25 meter exercise and fitness pool, a play area, a shallow hot water pool, a spa and showers. The large changing room departments offers sauna. The 3rd floor contains a wellness unit with several special facilities, most notably sauna, an ice water pool, steam baths, spa baths and massage pools. As originally, the complex is still home to a number of commercial leases and offers a small café, hairdresser,
acupuncture Acupuncture is a form of alternative medicine and a component of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in which thin needles are inserted into the body. Acupuncture is a pseudoscience; the theories and practices of TCM are not based on scientif ...
, craniosacral therapy and zone therapy. The first floor and basement is home to a fitness club.Husets andre tilbud


See also

* Listed buildings in Aarhus Municipality


References


External links


Spanien Public Baths Website

Spanien Public Baths Facebook account
{{Coord, 56.1517, 10.2110, region:DK_type:landmark, display=title Listed buildings in Aarhus Public baths in Denmark Buildings and structures completed in 1933 Functionalist architecture in Aarhus 1930s architecture in Denmark