WasteLand Climate Action Park, a former contaminated industrial site, is the home to a pink lithium crystal sauna designed by Swedish duo Bigert & Bergström. The Lithium Crystal Sauna is a fully functional public sauna, that takes the form of an enormous, asymmetrical pink crystal, a deliberate reference to one of the minerals driving the global transition towards electric vehicles, batteries and renewable energy storage. Its exterior is clad in titanium-plated pink mirror steel, reflecting the surrounding river, forest and regenerating landscape. The result is an object that appears almost otherworldly against its natural setting.
The choice of lithium carries a deliberate message, while batteries are central to the promise of a cleaner energy future, the growing demand for lithium is also intensifying pressure for new mining and extraction. Placing a lithium inspired structure on land scarred by industrial activity creates a visual connection between the environmental costs of the energy systems of yesterday and the technologies intended to power tomorrow.
Inside, the reflective exterior gives way to a contrasting “wood grotto” that creates a warm, tactile interior designed to create a reviving sensory experience. The structure is designed to operate simultaneously as sculpture, public infrastructure and a place to pause and recover.
The sauna forms part of WasteLand, Europe’s first climate action park, which opened in May 2026 after 17 years of remediation. The wider project brings art, research, recreation and ecological restoration together on one of Västerbotten’s formerly most polluted sites.
