Bigert & Bergström have created Solar Egg, a wood-burning, solar-powered sauna that’s part of an urban redevelopment effort in Kiruna, Sweden’s northernmost city. Sticking out like a sore thumb in the snowscape (or, in this case, like a five-metre tall, gold-mirror-plated egg) the sauna fits up to eight people.
Created as a social space for the city’s 18,000 residents, who are currently experiencing the astonishing task of having their city centre moved over three kilometres east to accommodate a vital mining operation, the egg also represents rebirth and the incubation of meaningful discussion. Visitors travelling through can also sweat it out in the sauna – which is free to use – but must book in advance.
