Art can take on many forms and some of the most interesting expressions are created when that art also has a practical application. Mats Bigert and Lars Bergström have done just that with a project they set outside Sweden’s northernmost town of Luossabacken. The Solar Egg Sauna is a 15-foot tall, 12-foot wide egg-shaped structure with a faceted surface made of gold-plated stainless steel. Up the stairs and through the crack-like door is a pine sauna with a bench made from aspen, and a custom-made, heart-shaped stove made of iron and stone.

The ‘Solar Egg’ was commissioned to commemorate the growth and partial relocation of several of the town’s districts due to ground subsistence from the local iron mines. The egg is an almost universal symbol of rebirth and the artists deemed it a fitting image to celebrate the town’s growth out of potential disaster. Not only is this inviting nest a public facility, it’s been made to be disassembled & transported to different locations where it can be remade again. [via]