Top US metropolitan areas with the highest LGB populations. (And Toronto...) (pop.

>37,000)

New York City

Los Angeles
Chicago
San Francisco
Phoenix
Houston
San Diego
Dallas
Seattle
Boston
= about 70 miles Philadelphia
Atlanta
San Jose
Toronto
Gary J. Gates Same-sex Couples and the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Population: New Estimates from the American Community Survey.
The Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy, UCLA School of Law, October 2006. Retrieved April 20, 2007.
Major metropolitan areas in the midwest
with GLB% greater than 4% or GLB pop.
greater than 30,000 (And Toronto...)

Chicago
Detroit
Columbus
Cleveland
Cincinnati
Minneapolis
Milwaukee
Indianopolis

= about 20 miles

Gary J. Gates Same-sex Couples and the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Population: New Estimates from the American Community Survey.
The Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy, UCLA School of Law, October 2006. Retrieved April 20, 2007.
Congressional Districts of Michigan
with GLB population (2-4 and 9-14 conglomerated)

Cities with gay

bathhouses or clubs
Saugatuck
Ferndale
Royal Oak
Detroit
88,000
Ann Arbor
Lansing
Grande Rapids

0
= about 15 miles

Gary J. Gates Same-sex Couples and the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Population: New Estimates from the American Community Survey.
The Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy, UCLA School of Law, October 2006. Retrieved April 20, 2007.
 Site
Social
Necto
Aut Bar
Mich. Union

Cruising
Locations*
= about 125 ft

= about 7.5 ft

*Top listed areas via Squirt.com, a gay male cruising website

 LESS Noticeable MORE Noticeable
Detroit NY - Continental Baths

NY - Everard Turkish Baths Vienna, Austria - Kaiserbrundl

NY - St. Marks Essen, Germany - Phoenix

Cleveland - Flex Baths London, UK - Chariots Soreditch

Images via bathhouseaddict.com

FAR = 3.5
FP = 25’x130’
= 10’x10’

= 6’x6’

= 3’x7.3’

= 4.6’x5.5’

=
Palaestra
Arrival
Laconicum
Check-in
Caldarium
Shower
Tepidarium
Cirr/Mech.
Frigidarium
Gym/Bar
Changing
Alley Side Section
 Plan Views
R R R R 3R 3 3 32 32 2 21 21 1 1 B1B B B B
Axiometric View
Front View
Front View
Front View
Roof Rendering
Showers
Suspended Pools
Project Concept:

Googling ‘bath house’, the first link found is the

wikipedia entry for ‘Gay bathhouse’. These spaces
have been around as part of human culture in various
iterations throughout history.

They acted as both a cleaning location and also a

social meeting point for the gay community, usually
gay and bisexual men but also straight-identifying
men, lesbians in some situations and as a location of
performance and entertainment in cases such as the
Continental Baths where Bette Midler got her start.

My structure leans more towards this side of the

spectrum. Some of the existing gay bathhouses in
Michigan are nearly unidentifiable from the outside.
This one would be located within site of a primary gay
club in Michigan (Necto), along pathways between
such gay-friendly cities as Chicago and Toronto, and
embraces the feeling of voyeurism and covering felt
within gay culture.
Glass pools and openings in the floor create
continuous lines of site throughout the
building, reflecting and refracting with
water and glass, but displaying bits and
pieces of the actions inside. The outer walls
leave the inner structure open, cutting out
most lines out sight ouside but leaving
not privy to the activities inside with the
feeling that ‘something’ worth knowing is
occuring inside.

Sounds would reflect throughout the

structure, from the basement to the roof
due to this seperation of floor from wall.
The spaces within create a collage of cuts
and pieces of sights and sounds expose and
cover the inhabitants at the same time.

Michael Senkow
3g1 M.Arch.
www.mhsenkow.com
twitter.com/michaelsenkow
Suspended Pools
Basement Pools
 toelectromagnetic to curve

booleandifference loft
Michael Senkow Michael Senkow

to cut to suspend

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Michael Senkow Michael Senkow

to curve to cut to cut

booleandifference copy copy

Michael Senkow Michael Senkow Michael Senkow
 Project 1

Michael Senkow

Michael Senkow
 Project 2

Sauna

Sunroom
Entryway/Showers/Changing Rooms

Steamroom

Michael Senkow

Michael Senkow

Michael Senkow
 Light Flow

Sauna Caldarium Restrooms Tepidarium Flow/Mechanical

Layout
Palaestra Changing Showers Frigidarium Arrival/Check-in
 Initial Layout Diagrams

B 1 2 3 R
8 ft high 10 ft high 15 ft high 10 ft high
 Project 2

hael Senkow

Michael Senkow