Hidden Journey

In our society, aging women are often excluded from conversations about desire. Stereotypes suggest that pleasure fades with age, and that intimacy is no longer relevant—only shameful. Our project challenges this by asking: What if older women were not just allowed, but invited, to seek pleasure and connections.

Inspired by the film Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, we imagined a space for women like Nancy—a retired teacher rediscovering her body and mind. Not a clinic. Not a care home. But a place of warmth, sensuality, and pleasure.

Located at Bucheggplatz, one of Zurich’s busiest intersections, the project begins discreetly—in a café and a park. The secret lies beneath, in a women-only bathhouse sunken into the ground. Here, the body is welcomed, not judged. Soft architecture—arched ceilings, filtered light, warm air—restores comfort and presence.

A hidden passage leads to a repurposed 1940s residence, now an intimate hotel. A quiet, safe space where a woman can meet a trusted companion without shame. This is a project about pleasurable care. About restoring dignity through architecture that listens. A place where even later in life, one can feel—finally—free.

Project by: Shiqi Xu, Xiaomin Tian, Xindi Zhang

Teaching team: Anna Puigjaner, Dafni Retzepi, Ethel Baraona Pohl, Lisa Maillard, Luis Úrculo, Pol Esteve Castelló, He Shen

Design Studio: Spring 2025

Photos and Videos taken by Luis Úrculo