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Blogs / Form - A Place for Design / Summer 2010 / The Dutch Tub

FORM

A Place for Design

The Dutch Tub

It’s portable. It comes in fun colors. You can grill on the fire that heats the tub. There’s no fancy seats you have to sit in. You can stuff in at least 7 adults. What’s not to love?

Is it a tea cup? An oversized Lego? A mortar and pestle? 

No, it’s the Dutch Tub from, where else, Holland. There are no comfy seats to sit in, no fancy jets, and no chlorine—just one big bowl of hot water. It’s also portable, comes in fun colors and you can grill on the fire that heats the tub. Yes, we can now conclude that the Dutch are crazy, but innovative too. More evidence here  http://www.moooi.nl

I first had the luxury of checking out the tub at a garden party in Brooklyn, New York. After working with many clients to install spas and pools and doing my share of tub-poaching in the Valley, the Dutch Tub was a fine respite. Because the water is heated for each use, this is not a chlorinated experience. There are also no jets to drown out the conversation and no neon lights to make you feel like you are in Vegas or a time machine. In fact, there isn’t much to it at all.

The most common question is, Where are the seats? If you must ask, the answer won’t make sense—there are none. Half of the experience is simply hanging out with your friends around the fire while the tub heats up.

You run outside to check the temperature and stir the water, and it’s kind of like cooking. When the water is hot, you soak. (Very scientific tests found that up to eight adults can fit, well, mostly, in the tub.) When it’s not yet hot, you can make use of the built-in bottle cooler, which comes in handy while soaking as well.

The portable tub is also great for a reverse of the classic hot tub poach. Instead of sneaking into a tub, you just bring it along with you, transforming an otherwise dead parking lot or concrete condo patio into an impromptu party.

The Dutch Tub fits perfectly in the Wood River Valley. We like to do-it-ourselves here, and we want to do it a little slower and more authentically. For locals, the inclinations to haul the tub and firewood into the wilderness should come as naturally as sticking it on your patio with a view of Baldy.

I liken the Dutch Tub experience to the Slow Food movement, except you’re the one in the pot. The shift to slower and more meaningful experiences is something I would like to see more of in my everyday life, and my hope is that we see more products in the future that inspire us to slow down instead of new products trying to always squeeze more productivity into our lives while we starve for meaning and satisfaction. Will a wood fired hot tub do all this? No. In the end it’s just another object of affection. But it is bright orange….

For your own Dutch Tub inspiration, check out this trip and the official Dutch Tub website.
 

And for purchasing information, please contact Ben Young at 208-726-5903.