The proposed retrofitting of an abandoned public bathhouse, originally built around the remains of traditional Turkish steam baths, is located at 45 Cara Dušana Street, Lower Dorćol, in the old city of Belgrade in Serbia. The bathhouse was shut down because former users were often people from squatter settlements, poor and homeless. While the city is gentrified, squatters are forced to move out, leaving everything behind. Their settlements are demolished and they have to start from scratch somewhere else. Squatters are mainly the Roma community, who despite their vivid culture and heritage, are discriminated against and forced to live without sanitation, in squats built from waste materials.

The proposal has three parts: a renovation of the existing masonry structure and regeneration of the public bathhouse; the transformation of the former swimming pool into a workshop, using waste materials provided by Roma collectors and transforming them into building components; and the creation of a marketplace with a stage for Romani performers during the festival of Ederlezi at its centre.

Welcome to the Bathhouse for the Unsettled and join Ederlezi:
the celebration of a new beginning.