shower habits
Showering in the contemporary city is a habitual and almost scheduled event. It has become so integrated within our daily routines that it has become an essential portion of the day or even night without our direct awareness or consciousness. 8 shower minutes a day is a debatable average number spent depending on the culture, hygiene, and social expectations. A bath was reduced to a shower in order for the human body to become more efficient. “Wasted” time in the bath has been reduced to a shorter time where the body is merely “showered’ by water instead of it soaking in a bath. A shower is not solely functional. Is it only for bathing? At least not in the city of Zurich where showering has always been an event. It is an event that has been transforming and affecting how, when, and where our bodies are being cleansed within the city. During the1400s the bath was a functional café. People spent hours, days, and night at the bath chatting, singing and playing (Chen et al. 52). People invited each other to the bath; they went there for a haircut or to shave (Chen et al. 52). They also went there for medicinal practices such as suctions and bloodletting (Chen et al. 52). The pleasures of bathing were later reduced to sponge bathing as fears of the bath becoming a place of pleasure and excess lingered (Chen et al. 52). With time bathing habits were reintroduced into the schedules of citizens as doctors called for a habitual schedule to fight off diseases and stay healthy. Showers became spaces of sun, water, and air (Chen et al. 53). Spaces where people are encouraged to spend more time in. Citizens of Zurich visited the baths on their lunch breaks, after work, to shop, and exercise (Chen et al. 52). Bathing is transformed into a culture when Zurich’s first bath organization was established designing a 200 page booklet on body culture and the importance of bathing (Chen et al. 53). Contemporary bathing is very much integrated in the daily schedules of every citizen in the city of Zurich. It is a celebratory event that takes a major portion of its citizens’’ seasonal schedules. The average citizen, whether male, female, or child, spends a greater time at the city baths during the summer season when the sun is out and children are on vacation.
Public baths present a convenient space for all age groups and genders of the city. A place to visit during the short daytime hours of the winter or the long days and nights of the summer. However, the baths of Zurich witness the same major peak rush hour during all seasons. The peak time is usually after work, a time when the citizens of Zurich would want to wind down, relax, and have a good time, either individually or as a group. During weekdays, age groups are mostly adults visiting at peak hours after work as a group to socialize, enjoy a few drinks, take a yoga class, or have a walk with their significant other at the parks surrounding the baths. During the day, adult users manage to squeeze in the bath for sauna use, exercising, swimming, or even working. In 2002 many shower users asked for the instalment of Wi-Fi routers to facilitate remote working since “early times”. During weekends, the baths bustle with families with many baths having a children area and water slides (Chen et al. 53).
