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Finally getting around to posting some photos of my work from @simresidency. "Geothermal Culture" is a collection of drawings and models representing my research into thermal pools in Iceland.

Stemming from field studies of remote, humble pools around the island, the work proposes speculative pool typologies that bridge infrastructural aesthetics with appreciation for the sublime landscape.

Finally getting around to posting some photos of my work from @simresidency. "Geothermal Culture" is a collection of drawings and models representing my research into thermal pools in Iceland.

Stemming from field studies of remote, humble pools around the island, the work proposes speculative pool typologies that bridge infrastructural aesthetics with appreciation for the sublime landscape.

Finally getting around to posting some photos of my work from @simresidency. "Geothermal Culture" is a collection of drawings and models representing my research into thermal pools in Iceland.

Stemming from field studies of remote, humble pools around the island, the work proposes speculative pool typologies that bridge infrastructural aesthetics with appreciation for the sublime landscape.

Announcing Intermediary Softness 2.0! This year, we’re looking at the intersection of bathing culture and passive solar systems. The team (@samchoi_ @laurenfoster98 @yanger3016) has been looking at multiple scales and temperatures of bathing typologies, ranging from cold plunges to floating river saunas. Take a dip with us!

Announcing Intermediary Softness 2.0! This year, we’re looking at the intersection of bathing culture and passive solar systems. The team (@samchoi_ @laurenfoster98 @yanger3016) has been looking at multiple scales and temperatures of bathing typologies, ranging from cold plunges to floating river saunas. Take a dip with us!

It’s raining today and we were hoping to fill those water pouches before the closing reception next Wednesday, 9/25 (4:30-6pm at Tillinghast Place). Come join us and find out! Here are some photos from when it was nothing but sunshine and shadow ☀️

Photography by Ella Baum (@ellabaumfoto)

It’s raining today and we were hoping to fill those water pouches before the closing reception next Wednesday, 9/25 (4:30-6pm at Tillinghast Place). Come join us and find out! Here are some photos from when it was nothing but sunshine and shadow ☀️

Photography by Ella Baum (@ellabaumfoto)

It’s raining today and we were hoping to fill those water pouches before the closing reception next Wednesday, 9/25 (4:30-6pm at Tillinghast Place). Come join us and find out! Here are some photos from when it was nothing but sunshine and shadow ☀️

Photography by Ella Baum (@ellabaumfoto)

"Pooling Together," the centerpiece of "Geothermal Culture,” strings four water volumes into one speculative bathing ritual. Each volume contains a specific temperature / phase of water: warm pool - sauna - cold plunge - and hot water tank.

Clad in an utilitarian palette of white pool tile and corrugated metal, these volumes resist conventional delineation between what is infrastructure vs. what is recreation. Ultimately, they give attention to the landscape from which the hot water flows by framing snapshots of the Icelandic outdoors.

"Pooling Together," the centerpiece of "Geothermal Culture,” strings four water volumes into one speculative bathing ritual. Each volume contains a specific temperature / phase of water: warm pool - sauna - cold plunge - and hot water tank.

Clad in an utilitarian palette of white pool tile and corrugated metal, these volumes resist conventional delineation between what is infrastructure vs. what is recreation. Ultimately, they give attention to the landscape from which the hot water flows by framing snapshots of the Icelandic outdoors.

"Pooling Together," the centerpiece of "Geothermal Culture,” strings four water volumes into one speculative bathing ritual. Each volume contains a specific temperature / phase of water: warm pool - sauna - cold plunge - and hot water tank.

Clad in an utilitarian palette of white pool tile and corrugated metal, these volumes resist conventional delineation between what is infrastructure vs. what is recreation. Ultimately, they give attention to the landscape from which the hot water flows by framing snapshots of the Icelandic outdoors.

"Pooling Together," the centerpiece of "Geothermal Culture,” strings four water volumes into one speculative bathing ritual. Each volume contains a specific temperature / phase of water: warm pool - sauna - cold plunge - and hot water tank.

Clad in an utilitarian palette of white pool tile and corrugated metal, these volumes resist conventional delineation between what is infrastructure vs. what is recreation. Ultimately, they give attention to the landscape from which the hot water flows by framing snapshots of the Icelandic outdoors.

To celebrate UNESCO’s World Art Day on April 15, 2026, SÍM Residency produced a short series of interviews with artists in residence in March 2026.
The Association of Icelandic Visual Artists (SÍM) is a partner of the IAA.

https://www.unesco.org/en/days/world-art

We sat down with Debbie Chen @d_m_c (she/her, USA) to discuss her practice and time at the residency.

Debbie Chen is an architect and educator working in Providence, Rhode Island. Her work explores how infrastructural typologies warrant design attention and produce cultural significance. In pursuit of infrastructural intimacy, she’s currently working on the ritual extensions of water and energy infrastructure through built and speculative mediums. As a licensed architect, Debbie currently serves as Assistant Professor at Rhode Island School of Design.

www.dc-dba.com

#SIM #simresidency #artistinresidence #art #worldartday

Mixing and matching pool vessel study models. In the world of pool infrastructure - the practical is the delightful. Water tanks, bathing basins, and sauna enclosures equally contain room for formal and material play. This collection of bathing “tops and bottoms” is inspired by Iceland’s historic and contemporary geothermal infrastructure as well as its design manifestations.

Completed in residency in Reykjavik @simresidency, as part of my Geothermal Culture research project.

Pool World is a 80cm x 80cm drawing I made to synthesize my pool pilgrimage around Iceland. Geothermal pools exist in all shapes and sizes here. No matter how remote or small a village is, the thermal pool is considered a basic social/public good. I’d like to think that all these pools ultimately tap into one body of water, one source of warmth and delight, coming from the ground.

Made in residency in Reykjavik @simresidency, as part of my Geothermal Culture research project.

Pool Pilgrimage Day 5: now in the Highlands. This isn’t exactly a pool but it’s absolutely bathing-related. This is a hot spring shower in the Krafla Geothermal Power Plant area.

Pool Pilgrimage Day 5: now in the Highlands. This isn’t exactly a pool but it’s absolutely bathing-related. This is a hot spring shower in the Krafla Geothermal Power Plant area.

Westfjords Pool Pilgrimage Day 2 & 3:

Reykjafjarðarlaug
Gjörvidalslaug
Hörgshlíðarlaug
Drangsnes Hot Tubs
Hauganes Beach Baths

Lesson of the day: pools come in all shapes and sizes
🔵🛑🔷⛵️

Westfjords Pool Pilgrimage Day 2 & 3:

Reykjafjarðarlaug
Gjörvidalslaug
Hörgshlíðarlaug
Drangsnes Hot Tubs
Hauganes Beach Baths

Lesson of the day: pools come in all shapes and sizes
🔵🛑🔷⛵️

Westfjords Pool Pilgrimage Day 2 & 3:

Reykjafjarðarlaug
Gjörvidalslaug
Hörgshlíðarlaug
Drangsnes Hot Tubs
Hauganes Beach Baths

Lesson of the day: pools come in all shapes and sizes
🔵🛑🔷⛵️

Westfjords Pool Pilgrimage Day 2 & 3:

Reykjafjarðarlaug
Gjörvidalslaug
Hörgshlíðarlaug
Drangsnes Hot Tubs
Hauganes Beach Baths

Lesson of the day: pools come in all shapes and sizes
🔵🛑🔷⛵️

Westfjords Pool Pilgrimage Day 2 & 3:

Reykjafjarðarlaug
Gjörvidalslaug
Hörgshlíðarlaug
Drangsnes Hot Tubs
Hauganes Beach Baths

Lesson of the day: pools come in all shapes and sizes
🔵🛑🔷⛵️

Westfjords Pool Pilgrimage Day 1:

Krosslaug
Grafarlaug
Guðrunarlaug & Water Tank
Pollurinn

All naturally heated to perfection ♨️

Westfjords Pool Pilgrimage Day 1:

Krosslaug
Grafarlaug
Guðrunarlaug & Water Tank
Pollurinn

All naturally heated to perfection ♨️

Westfjords Pool Pilgrimage Day 1:

Krosslaug
Grafarlaug
Guðrunarlaug & Water Tank
Pollurinn

All naturally heated to perfection ♨️

Westfjords Pool Pilgrimage Day 1:

Krosslaug
Grafarlaug
Guðrunarlaug & Water Tank
Pollurinn

All naturally heated to perfection ♨️

Westfjords Pool Pilgrimage Day 1:

Krosslaug
Grafarlaug
Guðrunarlaug & Water Tank
Pollurinn

All naturally heated to perfection ♨️

This month, spend a day among the thermal baths in Iceland with Debbie Chen (@d_m_c), an architect and Assistant Professor of Architecture at @risdarch who is currently taking a semester-long research leave as an artist-in-residence at the @simresidency in Reykjavík.

Working in the overlap of infrastructure and architecture, Debbie’s projects offer alternative forms of utility that prioritize cultural production and environmental kinship. In pursuit of infrastructural intimacy, she is currently designing a series of water and energy infrastructures that foreground ritual-making and recreation. At the residency, Debbie intends to study the relationship between geothermal energy and Iceland’s rich bathing culture.

Spend a day with Debbie at the link in our bio.

Pictured here:
1. Debbie in her studio at the Sím Residency in Reykjavik.
2. At RISD, Debbie has been working with graduate students on designing bathing typologies that foster dependency on solar energy. Photo courtesy of Debbie Chen.
3. Debbie hiking into the Reykjadalur Valley to visit the Hot Spring Thermal River. Photography by Luna Van Der Straaten.
4. Seljavallalaug, the first public pool to implement required youth swimming lessons in Iceland, nestled into the side of the Eyjafjöll mountains. Photography by Debbie Chen.
5. Hrunalaug hot spring, near the village of Fluðir. Photography by Debbie Chen.
6. Northern lights spotted outside of Selfoss.

#madamearchitect #risd #simresidency #iceland #architecture

This month, spend a day among the thermal baths in Iceland with Debbie Chen (@d_m_c), an architect and Assistant Professor of Architecture at @risdarch who is currently taking a semester-long research leave as an artist-in-residence at the @simresidency in Reykjavík.

Working in the overlap of infrastructure and architecture, Debbie’s projects offer alternative forms of utility that prioritize cultural production and environmental kinship. In pursuit of infrastructural intimacy, she is currently designing a series of water and energy infrastructures that foreground ritual-making and recreation. At the residency, Debbie intends to study the relationship between geothermal energy and Iceland’s rich bathing culture.

Spend a day with Debbie at the link in our bio.

Pictured here:
1. Debbie in her studio at the Sím Residency in Reykjavik.
2. At RISD, Debbie has been working with graduate students on designing bathing typologies that foster dependency on solar energy. Photo courtesy of Debbie Chen.
3. Debbie hiking into the Reykjadalur Valley to visit the Hot Spring Thermal River. Photography by Luna Van Der Straaten.
4. Seljavallalaug, the first public pool to implement required youth swimming lessons in Iceland, nestled into the side of the Eyjafjöll mountains. Photography by Debbie Chen.
5. Hrunalaug hot spring, near the village of Fluðir. Photography by Debbie Chen.
6. Northern lights spotted outside of Selfoss.

#madamearchitect #risd #simresidency #iceland #architecture

This month, spend a day among the thermal baths in Iceland with Debbie Chen (@d_m_c), an architect and Assistant Professor of Architecture at @risdarch who is currently taking a semester-long research leave as an artist-in-residence at the @simresidency in Reykjavík.

Working in the overlap of infrastructure and architecture, Debbie’s projects offer alternative forms of utility that prioritize cultural production and environmental kinship. In pursuit of infrastructural intimacy, she is currently designing a series of water and energy infrastructures that foreground ritual-making and recreation. At the residency, Debbie intends to study the relationship between geothermal energy and Iceland’s rich bathing culture.

Spend a day with Debbie at the link in our bio.

Pictured here:
1. Debbie in her studio at the Sím Residency in Reykjavik.
2. At RISD, Debbie has been working with graduate students on designing bathing typologies that foster dependency on solar energy. Photo courtesy of Debbie Chen.
3. Debbie hiking into the Reykjadalur Valley to visit the Hot Spring Thermal River. Photography by Luna Van Der Straaten.
4. Seljavallalaug, the first public pool to implement required youth swimming lessons in Iceland, nestled into the side of the Eyjafjöll mountains. Photography by Debbie Chen.
5. Hrunalaug hot spring, near the village of Fluðir. Photography by Debbie Chen.
6. Northern lights spotted outside of Selfoss.

#madamearchitect #risd #simresidency #iceland #architecture

This month, spend a day among the thermal baths in Iceland with Debbie Chen (@d_m_c), an architect and Assistant Professor of Architecture at @risdarch who is currently taking a semester-long research leave as an artist-in-residence at the @simresidency in Reykjavík.

Working in the overlap of infrastructure and architecture, Debbie’s projects offer alternative forms of utility that prioritize cultural production and environmental kinship. In pursuit of infrastructural intimacy, she is currently designing a series of water and energy infrastructures that foreground ritual-making and recreation. At the residency, Debbie intends to study the relationship between geothermal energy and Iceland’s rich bathing culture.

Spend a day with Debbie at the link in our bio.

Pictured here:
1. Debbie in her studio at the Sím Residency in Reykjavik.
2. At RISD, Debbie has been working with graduate students on designing bathing typologies that foster dependency on solar energy. Photo courtesy of Debbie Chen.
3. Debbie hiking into the Reykjadalur Valley to visit the Hot Spring Thermal River. Photography by Luna Van Der Straaten.
4. Seljavallalaug, the first public pool to implement required youth swimming lessons in Iceland, nestled into the side of the Eyjafjöll mountains. Photography by Debbie Chen.
5. Hrunalaug hot spring, near the village of Fluðir. Photography by Debbie Chen.
6. Northern lights spotted outside of Selfoss.

#madamearchitect #risd #simresidency #iceland #architecture

This month, spend a day among the thermal baths in Iceland with Debbie Chen (@d_m_c), an architect and Assistant Professor of Architecture at @risdarch who is currently taking a semester-long research leave as an artist-in-residence at the @simresidency in Reykjavík.

Working in the overlap of infrastructure and architecture, Debbie’s projects offer alternative forms of utility that prioritize cultural production and environmental kinship. In pursuit of infrastructural intimacy, she is currently designing a series of water and energy infrastructures that foreground ritual-making and recreation. At the residency, Debbie intends to study the relationship between geothermal energy and Iceland’s rich bathing culture.

Spend a day with Debbie at the link in our bio.

Pictured here:
1. Debbie in her studio at the Sím Residency in Reykjavik.
2. At RISD, Debbie has been working with graduate students on designing bathing typologies that foster dependency on solar energy. Photo courtesy of Debbie Chen.
3. Debbie hiking into the Reykjadalur Valley to visit the Hot Spring Thermal River. Photography by Luna Van Der Straaten.
4. Seljavallalaug, the first public pool to implement required youth swimming lessons in Iceland, nestled into the side of the Eyjafjöll mountains. Photography by Debbie Chen.
5. Hrunalaug hot spring, near the village of Fluðir. Photography by Debbie Chen.
6. Northern lights spotted outside of Selfoss.

#madamearchitect #risd #simresidency #iceland #architecture

This month, spend a day among the thermal baths in Iceland with Debbie Chen (@d_m_c), an architect and Assistant Professor of Architecture at @risdarch who is currently taking a semester-long research leave as an artist-in-residence at the @simresidency in Reykjavík.

Working in the overlap of infrastructure and architecture, Debbie’s projects offer alternative forms of utility that prioritize cultural production and environmental kinship. In pursuit of infrastructural intimacy, she is currently designing a series of water and energy infrastructures that foreground ritual-making and recreation. At the residency, Debbie intends to study the relationship between geothermal energy and Iceland’s rich bathing culture.

Spend a day with Debbie at the link in our bio.

Pictured here:
1. Debbie in her studio at the Sím Residency in Reykjavik.
2. At RISD, Debbie has been working with graduate students on designing bathing typologies that foster dependency on solar energy. Photo courtesy of Debbie Chen.
3. Debbie hiking into the Reykjadalur Valley to visit the Hot Spring Thermal River. Photography by Luna Van Der Straaten.
4. Seljavallalaug, the first public pool to implement required youth swimming lessons in Iceland, nestled into the side of the Eyjafjöll mountains. Photography by Debbie Chen.
5. Hrunalaug hot spring, near the village of Fluðir. Photography by Debbie Chen.
6. Northern lights spotted outside of Selfoss.

#madamearchitect #risd #simresidency #iceland #architecture

All you need to bath in a thermal river are changing partitions, a simple boardwalk, and some stone dams to lean against (even when it’s freezing out!). The hot water forms beautiful company: green moss, clay and iron craters, and frozen soil crystals.

All you need to bath in a thermal river are changing partitions, a simple boardwalk, and some stone dams to lean against (even when it’s freezing out!). The hot water forms beautiful company: green moss, clay and iron craters, and frozen soil crystals.

All you need to bath in a thermal river are changing partitions, a simple boardwalk, and some stone dams to lean against (even when it’s freezing out!). The hot water forms beautiful company: green moss, clay and iron craters, and frozen soil crystals.

All you need to bath in a thermal river are changing partitions, a simple boardwalk, and some stone dams to lean against (even when it’s freezing out!). The hot water forms beautiful company: green moss, clay and iron craters, and frozen soil crystals.

All you need to bath in a thermal river are changing partitions, a simple boardwalk, and some stone dams to lean against (even when it’s freezing out!). The hot water forms beautiful company: green moss, clay and iron craters, and frozen soil crystals.