MNN - Mother Nature Network

So, it’s been approximately 700 degrees here in New York over the past couple of days (well hello, summer!) and I’ve got cold, refreshing, and long (okay, not too long) showers on the brain. Seriously, someone whisk me away to a remote waterfall in the Catskills, ASAP. I’ll provide the Dr. Bronner's and chip in for gas.

 

On that note, faircompanies recently toured the tiny — yet seemingly spacious thanks to an ingenious system of sliding doors in lieu of walls — Barcelona apartment of Rui Miguel and Sonia Lopez where an interior courtyard-cum-indoor/outdoor shower serves as the centerpiece of their 430-square-foot transformative living space. Great thinking.

 

Instead of a humdrum skylight, the windowless bathroom features a gaping hole in the roof. While the couple can opt to close off the small, glass-enclosed courtyard when it gets chilly, they also often forgo the adjacent more "traditional" shower and use the courtyard as a natural shower during rain storms. And for those of you wondering about privacy, a lush planter filled with ivy and other flora somewhat obscures the chimney-esque rooftop opening. The ivy itself descends down through the opening giving the courtyard/shower a lovely tropical vibe. Being the paranoid city dweller I am, I'd elect for some kind of covering or grate for the opening, but Miguel and Lopez seem content without one. Also, it seems that the rooftop is private so they needn't worry about the creepy peeper from apartment 4B peering down.

 

Explains Miguel Angel Borrás of Miel Architects who worked with Miguel and Lopez in creating the shower: “Now, we’d never do this inside a living room. This is one thing that you can only do if you are doing the hole in the shower because it is where you are naked and it doesn’t matter if you get wet because you are getting wet at the moment, no? And it’s beautiful when it rains because you can shower yourself with the rain.”