What do you think?
Rate this book
The Secrets of Finnish Sauna Design
A Handbook for Experience-Driven Sauna DesignFor Builders of Rustic Sauna Cabins and Designers of Contemporary Apartment Saunas
Are you planning a new sauna, renovating an old one, or just dreaming? Do yourself a favor. Save your sauna project and read this wonderfully illustrated book about the design of authentic Finnish saunas!New research has identified Finnish sauna bathing as a source of numerous health benefits. To enjoy these effects, one needs a proper Finnish sauna. This book presents the collective wisdom accumulated by Finnish sauna builders, designers, and researchers across centuries, enabling anyone, anywhere, to design a pleasant bath house for family and friend to enjoy. This book provides answers to three major
What is a Finnish sauna?What you should require from its design?How to design a Finnish sauna in detail?
The book covers all aspects needed to design a functional, healthy, and delightful sauna, from heating and air quality to interior design. It instructs the reader how to master both tangible and intangible, visible and invisible elements of a sauna. The book puts a special emphasis on the sauna experience, living up to the belief that short-term satisfaction is the first step towards long-term health benefits. It features examples of contemporary Finnish sauna design and outlines why a true sauna experience is so much more than merely ‘a hot room’.
Author Dr. Lassi A Liikkanen (Aalto University) is a designer and scholar. The book is based on five years of intensive research and interviews of key Finnish sauna experts. For his sauna-focused website at Saunologia.fi, he has authored over two hundred articles. His academic accomplishments include nearly one hundred peer-reviewed papers, the latest of those around sauna bathing!
Lassi Liikkanen knows good sauna design. He also knows how critical good design is to enjoying the authentic Finnish bathing experience. I enthusiastically support this effort to share his special knowledge and sauna wisdom with the world.
Mikkel Aaland, author of Sweat, and host of the documentary series, Perfect Sweat.
There is a sauna boom in North America. More and more people are finding the rejuvenating qualities of sauna bathing. For those, who want to learn more of a fulfilling sauna design and the pieces that it consists of, Lassi’s book is a great information source. Reading this book will help you take the sauna to the next, authentic, level.
Eero Kilpi, Ph.D., President, The North American Sauna Society
Are you planning a new sauna, renovating an old one, or just dreaming? Do yourself a favor. Save your sauna project and read this wonderfully illustrated book about the design of authentic Finnish saunas!New research has identified Finnish sauna bathing as a source of numerous health benefits. To enjoy these effects, one needs a proper Finnish sauna. This book presents the collective wisdom accumulated by Finnish sauna builders, designers, and researchers across centuries, enabling anyone, anywhere, to design a pleasant bath house for family and friend to enjoy. This book provides answers to three major
What is a Finnish sauna?What you should require from its design?How to design a Finnish sauna in detail?
The book covers all aspects needed to design a functional, healthy, and delightful sauna, from heating and air quality to interior design. It instructs the reader how to master both tangible and intangible, visible and invisible elements of a sauna. The book puts a special emphasis on the sauna experience, living up to the belief that short-term satisfaction is the first step towards long-term health benefits. It features examples of contemporary Finnish sauna design and outlines why a true sauna experience is so much more than merely ‘a hot room’.
Author Dr. Lassi A Liikkanen (Aalto University) is a designer and scholar. The book is based on five years of intensive research and interviews of key Finnish sauna experts. For his sauna-focused website at Saunologia.fi, he has authored over two hundred articles. His academic accomplishments include nearly one hundred peer-reviewed papers, the latest of those around sauna bathing!
Lassi Liikkanen knows good sauna design. He also knows how critical good design is to enjoying the authentic Finnish bathing experience. I enthusiastically support this effort to share his special knowledge and sauna wisdom with the world.
Mikkel Aaland, author of Sweat, and host of the documentary series, Perfect Sweat.
There is a sauna boom in North America. More and more people are finding the rejuvenating qualities of sauna bathing. For those, who want to learn more of a fulfilling sauna design and the pieces that it consists of, Lassi’s book is a great information source. Reading this book will help you take the sauna to the next, authentic, level.
Eero Kilpi, Ph.D., President, The North American Sauna Society
216 pages, Paperback
Published April 23, 2021
7 people are currently reading
76 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 27, 2025
I was hoping for more hands-on guidance on the technical/structural design part. Nonetheless still a nice read
November 1, 2021
While I have no plans to build a sauna any time soon, the science of heat and materials involved is pretty darn interesting!
March 18, 2024
I'd argue that this is essential reading for anyone outside of Finland who is looking to build or obtain a sauna. Even if you have no interest in designing and constructing the sauna yourself and simply wish to buy a pre-built kit that you can put together in an afternoon, this book will teach you all of the design features of a good sauna. With that knowledge, you can make informed choices about what sauna kit you'd like to acquire (or what design you'd like to pursue for your own construction), and you'll learn to start spotting poorly designed or poorly built saunas.
As an example, this book teaches us that bench height is important because it allows the bather to sit high enough above the heater that their entire body (not just their torso and head) is within the hot zone. As another example, the author spends a lot of time talking about ventilation, because a poorly ventilated sauna will accumulate too much CO2 and steam and will become stuffy and won't be as enjoyable to use.
Excellent book, and I'll definitely be coming back to it as I continue to work on my sauna projects in the future!
As an example, this book teaches us that bench height is important because it allows the bather to sit high enough above the heater that their entire body (not just their torso and head) is within the hot zone. As another example, the author spends a lot of time talking about ventilation, because a poorly ventilated sauna will accumulate too much CO2 and steam and will become stuffy and won't be as enjoyable to use.
Excellent book, and I'll definitely be coming back to it as I continue to work on my sauna projects in the future!
February 27, 2023
It has some good to know basic sauna information, details and directions. I can say that it my be the beginners guide for understanding sauna. It provides details for air quality, technologies used, design, materials. The reader may find some really good links and direction to understand how a proper sauna should or should not be.
September 15, 2024
Informative book about key tenets of sauna design and culture. Useful starting point to understand design principles but not an exhaustive reference guide.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews