Standing in a former industrial wasteland in northern Sweden is a mirrored structure that reflects the water and trees across its crystalline form. Its faceted exterior also reflects the recovering industrial landscape around it. It’s a mesmerizing sculptural form that seems to come out of a science fiction movie. But a closer look reveals it to be a sauna, called the Lithium Crystal Sauna, designed by Stockholm-based artist duo Bigert & Bergström.
It’s a fully functioning sauna constructed at the center of WasteLand, a newly inaugurated climate action park in Skellefteå, Sweden. The area used to be the polluted Scharin industrial site. It underwent over seventeen years of extensive soil remediation before being transformed into a public landscape for art, ecology, and gathering.
The Lithium Crystal Sauna serves as the park’s permanent centerpiece and is publicly accessible. It’s built in connection with Society Expo 2026 under the motto “From Waste to -Promise.” Its pink titanium-coated mirrored stainless steel facade borrows the structural form of lithium crystal. Its asymmetrical form comprises approximately 280 prisms, digitally designed and cut with CNC machines and laser technology.
The structural form references the movement between technology and body. Lithium powers batteries and also the mind, with the material commonly used in mental health treatment. Here, this reference becomes physical and visually arresting. The sauna takes shape with a steel structure wrapped in reflective panels.
Meanwhile, warm wood grotto lined with alder and heartwood pine takes center stage, along with flint and olive stones around the heater. Then copper, glass, LEDs, insulation, and ventilation complete the technical layer of the Lithium Crystal Sauna.
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Images courtesy of BigertBergström
