The European history of bath has its roots in the Greek culture about 2500 years ago. In every Greek town was situated at least one center of culture, a gymnasium, that contained bath establishements, areas for physical training, restaurants, librarys and readingrooms. Already 400 B.C. Hippokrates, founder of the art of healing, spoke for the waters important qualities in medical treatements. After the Greeks the Romans overtook and maintained the polished manners of bathing, and thanks to them the culture spread to the north of Europe. During the middleages the art of swimming was well respected among soldiers and knights, and was frequently practised in tournament games and competitions. At the same time the bathhouses were developed in the towns of Europe.

Being an architect I create spaces with roof, walls and fl oor. The availability of the essential materials to create such spaces is practically unlimited. The materials also play a significant part to the character of the created space. I hope to contribute to the general understanding of materials as elements in the design of urban spaces by having intensely explored one specific material in depth, pointing out its bad and good qualities. I am of the opinion that the reason for choosing a material shouldn?t be because of a shortage of knowledge, facts or references, but what character you want for the room. When travelling across Europe, it sometimes feels like clay paving is everywhere, but back in Sweden it is almost unseen of in modern landscape architecture.

Regioner har alltid funnits. Det har stått för det intermediära, en funktion mellan det lokala och det centrala styret. Den geografiska omfattningen har varit allt från länsindelningar till stora internationella eller kulturella regioner. Historiskt sätt, kan regioner vara funktionella, administrativa eller kulturella. När Sverige övergick till att bli ett industrisamhälle, blev regioner en viktig utgångspunkt för att förändra de nationella näten.