The East In The West: Still Existing Victorian Turkish Baths In The British Isles

Date

2023-12

Author

Pasin, Burkay

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Influenced by Orientalist discourses, the British culture incorporated numerous Eastern building types, including the Turkish bath (hammam). In the mid-19 th century, the Turkish Bath Movement witnessed the construction of more than 600 public bath complexes across various regions of the British Isles. The adaptation of the Turkish bath ritual into 19 th century Victorian culture and architecture was not a seamless process; it brought out a range of technical, functional, and socio-cultural challenges. Firstly, in contrast to the original Turkish bath’s hot and humid interior, where users bathe and cleanse together for long periods, Victorian Turkish baths use dry hot air, and function primarily for private relaxation rather than communal bathing, recreation, and socialising. Secondly, unlike the Turkish bath’s compact architectural formation, both externally and internally, Victorian Turkish baths reflect complexity and eclecticism in architectural style, interior design, and spatial arrangement. This study focuses on five Victorian Turkish baths that embody the characteristics of Victorian Architecture, and still function as part of the larger public bath complexes: Arlington Baths Club and Western Baths Club in Glasgow, Portobello Swim Center in Edinburgh, Royal Baths at Harrogate, and Health Hydro at Swindon. Employing a case study methodology, this research integrates an extensive archival survey, on-site inspections, interviews and questionnaire surveys conducted at selected public bath complexes. Through comparative analyses of the diverse data, the article aims to investigate the relationships between spatial arrangements and patterns of use, highlighting differences from the hammam prototype in Eastern geographies.

Subject Keywords

Victorian Turkish bath, Victorian Architecture, Hammam, Eclecticism, Orientalism, Viktoryan tarzı Türk banyosu, Viktoryan tarzı Mimari, Hamam, Seçmecilik, Oryantalizm

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/108811

Collections

Department of Architecture, Article