2024-11-23T07:21:23-05:00 https://archinect.com/features/article/9349928/op-ed-the-neglected-public-bathroom Archinect 2011-06-09T18:55:00-04:00 >2022-03-16T09:16:08-04:00 <img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/tf/tfnbxkebno1y2y0b.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><p> According to the New York Post, the National 9/11 Memorial will open this year with no bathrooms. The $508 million project will draw legions of visitors and is characterized by gushing water, but anyone seeking a toilet will have to leave the site for a nearby department store.</p> <p> This omission of public bathrooms resonates with a personal architectural experience. Over the past six months, I participated in a collaboration of art and architecture students to design a pavilion at <a href="http://archinect.com/schools/cover/3109814/columbia-university" target="_blank">Columbia University</a>. It is located in a courtyard behind the architecture school and will be up for most of the summer. A temporary structure, a pavilion is often the architect&rsquo;s opportunity to build without the inconvenience of plumbing or other practicalities.</p>