The rebirth of Bratislava public baths
After decades of abandonment, this emblematic building of the Slovak capital is the subject of an ambitious restoration project.
Imagine a historical place that the citizens know about without ever having been there. Used in its original function by their ancestors, immortalized over the ages by artists, the city bath of Grössling holds this legendary dimension in Bratislava’s people hearts.
After decades of desertion and decline, the capital city finally obtained the resources and a plan to give Grössling city bath a new golden age with a modern multi-use twist accessible to citizens and visitors alike. It is a story of a community place of the past that is still looking for its future.
In 1895, when a large part of Grössling bath was built, people did not have bathrooms at home, so visiting public baths was meant for hygiene. It was first owned by a bank that saw the success and decided to extend the function with the social, sitting pools that were completed in 1914.
« Important [for the history of the baths] is that the golden age was from the end of the construction in 1914 until 1941, when the swimming pool was used mostly by the Jewish swimming clubs. After the introduction of the Jewish Codex, it was over », said Gabor Bindics, the project manager of the reconstruction. The Jewish Codex was one of the most strict anti-Jewish laws in Europe, following Germany at the time.
An international competition
The current plan is to create a community place with the original purpose – relaxation baths, procedural baths, swimming pool, and saunas, combined with the city library space and a café. To connect these parts logically, the Metropolitan Institute of Bratislava (MIB) announced an architectural competition that was shared internationally. From 77 entries from 17 countries, the winning plan is from Florence, Italy, by the OPPS Archittetura studio.
« As Italians, we could say that we have practically never experienced the era of construction. Everything is reconstruction, it’s recovery, it’s evolution. So, there are many differences [between building new and reconstruction], we can list the three main ones », explains Antonio Salvi from OPPS Architettura. « The first one is the relationship with the existing building, he continues. You can work with continuity, or you can work with opposition. The second one could be the unexpected. I think there will be unforeseen contingencies to be resolved during construction. And then the last one could be even the most important. It’s more political, it’s more cultural because you have to improve the existing situation …, especially if you have a building with historical value ».
« Grössling city bath is a building that was built in multiple stages … it has its layers. You need to decompose and identify it all. You need to say, what is important to keep and then fit in the new program, said Peter Lényi, who was leading the competition section and was a member of the competition jury at MIB.
« Most community centers create a space that can be used for multiple purposes. As multifunctional spaces, they also represent the potential for activities of a social or community nature that may not have been planned at all at the time of their creation, explains Juraj Suchánek from the Institute of Urban Development, a civic organization based in Bratislava. The proper management of such spaces is also important so that they are not created only from a technical point of view, but that they use their possibilities as effectively as possible and actively implement various activities of interest in the area. The needs of their surroundings naturally change over time, and therefore they must respond dynamically ».
In the midst of crises, the question of budget
The Capital City of Bratislava invests a cash contribution, buildings, and land. Currently, the project is in the stage before a public tender which decides on the construction companies based on evaluating the project and making an offer, as Salvi explained.
« The budget is a big issue because the competition is from 2020. And in the meantime, we had a lot of troubles in Europe and worldwide. In the end, such a big project will be very involved in macroeconomics », said Salvi.
The war in Ukraine, the subsequent energetic crisis, and the prices of materials have influenced not only the daily lives of citizens but also projects of a larger scale like this one. The increase in electricity and gas prices was also followed by a decrease in salaries throughout the project duration.
« The city had such a desire to build, to create, as if to move forward, at the same time the city still had money compared to today’s situation. … So, if today the city were to decide whether to work on Grössling spa, I don’t know how it would turn out », said Lényi.
Artists, photographers and filmmakers
Before finalizing the assignment for the competition, MIB organized a participatory process to find out what the citizens of Bratislava want from the project. People in Bratislava do not know public baths in the Slovakian context, but have positive experiences from abroad, for example, the world-famous baths in Budapest. The Hungarian baths have experience of over a hundred years of functioning, contributing with their knowledge to the Grössling project.
« It is the genius loci of the place that is so intriguing for artists, photographers, or filmmakers », said Adam and Linda Cisarovi from the Cisarove project. The artistic duo worked on an illustration of Grössling. Over the long time of closure, the place became mysterious, with artists getting access to archival documentation or a tour, to get a feel of the architecture and remind the public of its existence.
To see Grössling in person, it is good to start with the quiet corner of the Medená (Bronze) and Kúpeľná (Bath) streets in Bratislava, by the Grössling entrance from 1895. From the outside perspective, the building looked nothing out of the ordinary. When you look closer though, you notice construction worker vests hanging in the windows, which hint at the current state of the building.
Walking further through the future entrance and the library part of the building, one can already see the future reception, the zone for children, all the way to the pools and changing rooms and admire the building, walking over the top of the original vaulting from 1895 on the first floor. In some parts of the building, you can see different color layers on the walls, which signify the old original façade and the newer layers from 1914.
Degraded trust
A challenge seems to be communication with the neighbors. Bindics explained, that communicating details to the public creates expectations. On the one hand, it keeps the forgotten place in the minds of the citizens, but also allows the few skeptics to look for problems. Seeing Grössling on a graphic or photograph in an exhibition (e.g. on photos by world-famous Mária Švarbová) or a souvenir shop postcard is apparently not enough to convince everyone.
« It is an extremely demanding reconstruction, and especially the permission process is extremely demanding », said Bindics as he was comparing the work for the city with the private sector. If he were to start now, he would expect 3-4 times more time. This not only includes the long periods of waiting because of the citizens’ complaints but also the antimonopoly office because of the contributions of the EU money and the procedures for administering the competition. Considering the political history of Slovakia, the past governments (and the current one), people have lowered their trust in institutions, and following the scandals of corruption and stolen public money, thorough procedures are the only way to keep all the actors in check.
« We are trying to respond to this with various self-controlling measures, we want to give people in the neighborhood the opportunity to participate in the proceedings», said Bindics.
In terms of transparency, Bratislava scored low on budget and contracting (41%) and participation in decision-making and personal politics (each 55%) according to a report by Transparency International Slovakia. However, some good news for Slovakian cities is, that ¾ of the cities are more transparent compared to 4 years ago (data is from 2022).
Bindics admitted, that he would hope that the objections from the public would be more legitimate.. Examples of the issues neighbors had were that an individual did not want a ramp for wheelchairs or fear of people without a home in the park. It might be a fear of change since nothing was done with the building since the final closing in 1994.
« An essential and positive change »
The difficulties with the few neighbors are contrasted with the outcomes of the participatory process, but even some of the closest neighbors. Adam Pommer works at the flower shop Kvetinaren, which is directly facing the old entrance of Grössling. He has been following the project for a while now. Nobody has contacted him about the reconstruction but he does not see the need for it.
« I think it will be quite fundamental and, I believe, a positive change. I am already looking forward to the completion of the project. I expect that the neighborhood will have a higher aesthetic value, that it will be visited [by people] from a wider area than it is now », said Pommer.
From the architectural point of view, the challenge is different, but still slightly connected to communication.
« The main problem was to maintain the autonomy of the individual functions, while at the same this should be communicated as a [single] Grössling, brand. At the same time, you should provide some services that can be used by all functions, like plants for the environmental benefit. So, this is quite undercover work that is important to solve. Nobody will see it, but it’s important », said Salvi.
The current plan predicts to start of the building works next summer, with the final opening possibly scheduled for 2026-27. The calculations are reliable in saying that the building can be built in 2 years, library in 1 year.
« If the bath becomes a “multi-genre” building, some of the genius loci might get deformed, but it brings a space to create something unique, that can serve people in the next generations and it will create an opportunity to build a relationship with the place also for younger people », said Linda and Adam from Cisarove.
The iconic architecture stood the test of time, preserved in photographs over the whole course of its history, at the moment with digital visualizations of its hopeful future.
« In addition to the reconstruction itself, which itself is a success after years of deterioration, the new functions in the building are also a benefit. The cafe and library represent a more efficient use of the building, as well as space for various community activities », said Suchánek.
« It is definitely good if it succeeds. It will create some kind of thing that is actually still here, but at the same time, by a funny coincidence, a thing that was already here once before », said Lényi.
This article was produced as part of The Newsroom 27 competition, organised by Slate.fr with the financial support of the European Union. The article reflects the views of the author and the European Commission cannot be held responsible for its content or use.
