Trend 1: Sauna As Art & Entertainment

Large Event Saunas are changing the way guests experience these spaces, creating theatrical venues in the spa. Pictured here is the DFL designed and built Event Sauna at AWANA Spa & Wellness in Las Vegas, NV

Along with the exciting social and entertaining aspect of sauna bathing – something that is best reflected in the unstoppable trend of Sauna Aufguss, which has officially come to North America with both the USA and Canada planning to field entries for the 2024 Auguss World Championships – it seems that saunas are popping up everywhere: from portable beach side units to floating luxury saunas in Oslo harbor. However, just as hot in 2023 are the amazing designers and artists that are giving traditional sauna design an edgy or sophisticated re-think, creating sauna structures unlike any seen before.

Designers flexing their talents and creating new looks for saunas. Pictured here Matteo Thun for KLAFS.

Whether it’s a “Dreamy Floating Sauna” in the Arctic waters with views of the Northern Lights or an outdoor sauna nestled within an alder tree, designers and artists who may have never designed for wellness, such as Snohetta and Matteo Thun, are using this format to create sacred and beautiful landscapes that are getting noticed and helping to elevate the humble sauna into something much more. A great example of how this can further the concept of sweat bathing is Art Spin’s Public Sweat, a Canadian initiative that took place in 2023, combining art, sauna culture and sweat bathing.