Archinect - News

New York City begins test pilot for parkbound modular public restrooms

2023-03-01T17:56:00-05:00

Nearly four years after floating the possibility, the city Department of Parks and Recreation is preparing for a trial run of prefabricated, kiosk-like bathrooms that cost a fraction of the multimillion-dollar price tag for building traditional restrooms. The modular bathrooms resemble curved newspaper kiosks, with slatted sides that are intended to provide needed privacy, but also enough sightlines to dissuade illicit behavior.

The New York City Department of Parks & Recreation says there will be one test toilet for each borough at a cost of $185,000 each. Five other “comfort stations” are also currently in the department’s construction pipeline. According to them, the new pilot is meant to “determine the feasibility of using this model in the future as an economical solution to building bathrooms in parks.”

The modular Portland Loo designs are a bit cheaper than the twenty JC Decaux-made facilities the city struggled to implement after signing a more expensive deal under the Bloomberg administration in 2006. Their presence, at a time when new chief public realm officer Ya-Ting Liu says she will move to make open streets and outdoor dining more permanent fixtures, is important also to the nearly 45,000 homeless people who live in the city.

If installed en masse, they'll join the new inventory of 5G towers cropping up around the city as the latest hallmarks of a changing streetscape remade by progressive d...

White Room Inspires Interaction

2021-07-14T13:52:00-04:00

This post is brought to you by AF New York

What does an all-white room signify to you? For me, it’s a fraught mix of sanitarium/hospital, a sort of blank slate for digital reality a la The Matrix, and a vaguely heavenly connotation—like something from a film in which Morgan Freeman plays God. Now, what if we adorn said room with all-white upscale bathroom fixtures? What if we bedeck it from tip to toe with Victoria & Albert washbasins, Duravit vanities, Geberit U.S.A. flush plates, and Infinity Drains? How would that make you feel?

Juliana Fajardo, Chief of Staff at AF New York, is betting that this very unorthodox and equally provocative installation will provoke a powerful reaction, one way or another: “The gallery style, the re-contextualization of these objects, allows you to appreciate them on another level, to experience the different textures, the artfulness and the beauty of the forms.”

Kaldewei Washbasins

Looking at White Room’s many mounted urinals, one can’t help but think...

How the Toilet Can Be an Icon of Social Justice, Sustainability, and Wellness

2021-03-08T18:10:00-05:00

Located at the intersection of sculpture and architecture, TOLO's XYYXXY Accessible Restroom is designed as a counterpoint to the “normative” bathroom. The plan takes the shape of a disfigured cross with a “non-gendered” toilet or urinal stall located at the end of each spoke. The impetus for the project was North Carolina’s “bathroom bill” HB2, which sought to restrict the bathroom transgender people can use. XYYXXY emblematizes the cultural issues at play in these so-called “Potty Laws,” as well as other historic civil rights laws, that have sought to define how restrooms are designed and used.

Join us as we talk to the designers of the XYYXXY Accessible Restroom, TOLO Architecture partners Sarah Lorenzen and Peter Tolkin, for a presentation and discussion Monday, March 15th, from 1-2 pm EST / 10-11 am PST, looking at the potential of the toilet.

To RSVP for this virtual panel, please click the "reserve" button at this link. Space is limited and registration is required to attend....

Is it time to redesign the toilet?

2020-06-17T13:29:00-04:00

As investigations into the ways in which the coronavirus spreads continue, new research suggests once again that bathrooms, and particularly toilets, represent a potential vector for infection.

Recently published research in the academic journal Physics of Fluids finds that toilet flushing produces a "massive upward transport of virus particles" with "40%–60% of particles reaching above the toilet seat, leading to large-scale virus spread." The report continues, "Fecal–oral transmission is a common transmission route for many viruses, including SARS-CoV-2. Blocking the path of fecal–oral transmission, which occurs commonly in toilet usage, is of fundamental importance in suppressing the spread of viruses."

Previously on Archinect: ""Hygiene ventilation" and the case for Green Stimulus." Image courtesy of Image by Erich Westendarp from Pixabay.

For the study, researchers used computer modeling, including AutoCAD, to investigate how far and wide aerosolized virus particles can spread,...

COVID-19 offers another argument in favor of single-stall bathrooms

2020-05-15T12:23:00-04:00

The COVID-19 pandemic has necessarily prompted a rethinking of many of the most fundamental aspects of daily life around the world, as people, businesses, and governments seek to retrofit the built environment in order to minimize the potential for future exposure.

Everything from HVAC systems, office spaces, grocery stores, shopping areas, and universities will need to be rethought, experts argue, with wide-ranging and yet-to-be-known changes in store for how we live our everyday lives.

Previously on Archinect: COVID-19 should lead to lasting design code improvements of public bathrooms, experts say.

Another arena that is due to be seriously reconsidered is that of the public bathroom, where open toilet stalls and open-top toilets are known to generate unhygienic "toilet plumes" that aerosolize fecal matter and potentially, diseases within these spaces.

A recent Fast Company report delves into the approaches that some bathroom fixture manufacturers are taking while retooling their ...

COVID-19 should lead to lasting design code improvements of public bathrooms, experts say

2020-05-05T14:31:00-04:00

Public health experts, designers and architects say the Covid-19 pandemic has exposed fundamental flaws in the design of public toilets that risk spreading a second wave of coronavirus, and possibly even new pandemics. [...] Some of the suggested innovations include a greater uptake of sensor taps, fully self-cleaning cubicles, designing exits that don’t require human contact, and having bathroom attendants.

The Guardian laying out suggestions from health experts on how to improve hygiene standards in public restrooms, not only in light of the current pandemic but in preparation of the next one.

"We’ve almost got this little opportunity from the pandemic where people are going to listen and going to change," one respondent explained in the article. "What we do now to fix public bathrooms, people will actually follow."

Honolulu Law Criminalizes Homelessness

2014-10-15T16:37:00-04:00

On Sept. 16, Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell signed three bills that make it a misdemeanor (punishable by up to 30 days in jail and a maximum $1,000 fine) to sit or lie on sidewalks in the bustling tourist district of Waikiki and outlaw relieving oneself in public islandwide. Homeless advocates say the new laws unfairly target Hawaii’s most vulnerable residents, especially since Waikiki has only one 24-hour public restroom in the crowded district.

In a 2014 report, Hawaii was ranked as the state with highest population of homeless residents, who provoke the ire of local businesses. Some opponents of the new law claim it breaks the traditional "law of the splintered paddle," introduced by King Kamehameha circa 1797. The law states: “Let every elderly person, woman and child lie by the roadside in safety."

This is just a recent example of a growing trend of criminalizing homelessness in the US. For more information about such laws, as well as design solutions intended to circumvent them, read our coverage here. For design innovations particularly oriented around the lack of public bathroom facilities, click here.

Designing Bathrooms for the Homeless (and Everyone Else)

2014-09-02T15:22:00-04:00

In the U.S., homeless-rights advocates say that in most cities it is difficult to find public toilets — making sanitation an issue that homeless people face on a daily basis [...] Even if there are public bathrooms, many are not open around the clock, leaving the homeless with no other option but to go in public areas — an act that is criminalized in most cities. Critics say such policies unfairly punish homeless people for life-sustaining actions.

Often restricted private bathrooms in restaurants or cafes, homeless people have very few options but to defecate in public – a dehumanizing and unsanitary situation. American cities are not particularly well-known for creating infrastructure and urban furniture that accommodates their sizeable homeless populations. Often designers are complicit in creating exclusionary devices rather than using their skills to open the city and make it more livable for even the most marginalized populations. Last month, we looked at unwelcoming bench designs as a tactic of exclusion as well as various counter-designs. The city of Santa Monica should be added to that list, after replacing benches at Big Blue Bus stations with stools designed by Lorcan O'Herlihy Architects. The uncomfortable stools, pictured below, have caused a small controversy. Big Blue Bus explicitly admitted they were intended to prevent "loitering."

Like loitering laws that criminalize a basic, life-sustaining activity (sleepin...

Editor's Picks #381

2014-08-19T20:36:00-04:00

Nicholas Korody penned, Shitting Architecture: the dirty practice of waste removal. Therein drawing lessons; from Slavoj Zizek on the toilet and Timothy Morton (of Object-Oriented Ontology [OOO]) on sustainability as the preservation of the status quo, he argues that "Under the weight of the ecological crisis, the world has been flattened. There is no exit".

In response, Orhan Ayyüce offered up an image of the sublimely absurd, "I am always baffled by big houses that are marketed with +5.5 bathrooms (very common in wealthy neighborhoods) and so on. And of course these host extremely hi end living styles. It is kind of funny to think all these people do all day is shit and shit and shit everywhere in the house".

For the latest edition of Working out of the Box: Archinect featured Francis Tsai, of Francis Tsai Illustration and Concept Design, who received a Master's degree in 1993 from University of Texas in Austin.

Xenaxis "worked with Francis Tsai at Rockstar games and he was one of t...

Tooshlights aim to be the traffic lights for public restrooms, cutting wait time up to 50%

2014-07-16T14:43:00-04:00

It’s a simple yet elegant solution to the bane of concert, theater and sports event attendees everywhere. A light above each restroom stall glows green when the stall door is open and turns red when the door is locked, instantly showing which stalls are available. Allen Klevens, co-founder and CEO of Tooshlights, an L.A.-based startup, says that the technology could potentially cut wait times by up to 50 percent.

India's prime minister promising to make old cities "smart"

2014-06-24T13:49:00-04:00

Old Indian cities like Varanasi, Amritsar, Kolkata and even Delhi, could be in for a facelift over the next few years with the Narendra Modi government planning to develop modern satellite towns around these cities under the 100 Smart City programme, while upgrading the decaying infrastructure of the old towns. [...] All new cities will have integrated transport — modern bus systems, trams, metro rail and bicycle tracks — aided by satellite mapping, garbage disposal and solid waste management.

Before becoming India's prime minister and promising to make cities smart, Narendra Modi's campaign was focused on a slightly less lofty goal: "toilets before temples":

The BJP leader is quite right to declare that India should spend less money on devotion and more on sanitation. According to 2011 census data, nearly half of households have no access to a toilet, forcing inhabitants to defecate in the open. More Indians own a mobile phone than a lavatory of their own. Poor hygiene, not lack of food, is the main reason that 40 per cent of children are malnourished. Much of Mr Modi’s appeal, which has swept through India like a brush fire, lies in his promise to conjure the growth that will eradicate such dire conditions and set his supporters on the road to a middle-class life.

- David Pilling for the Financial Times

Duke researchers design toilet that turns waste into drinking water

2013-07-26T20:20:00-04:00

It works like this: people empty their latrines into a sewage receptacle (currently, latrines are often emptied into rivers), the waste gets funneled through a series of tubes and is pressurized at extreme temperatures, and the byproduct is clean, possibly drinkable water. Deshusses describes the process as “a pressure cooker on steroids.”

How No-Flush Toilets Can Help Make a Healthier World

2012-10-11T14:11:00-04:00

Inadequate sewage systems and the lack of toilets in much of the developing world have created a major public health and environmental crisis. Now various innovators are promoting new kinds of toilets and technologies that use little or no water and recycle the waste.

Let’s get our sh*t together and reinvent the toilet

2011-07-21T12:57:27-04:00

The sanitation revolution has done more to save lives and improve health than any public health intervention in the past 200 years. But the flush toilet has only reached one-third of the world’s population. Clearly, we need to encourage new ideas and new approaches to accelerate safe and affordable access to sanitation for everyone.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced the launch of a strategy to help bring safe, clean sanitation services to millions of poor people in the developing world. The foundation also announced $42 million in new sanitation grants that aim to spur innovations in the capture and storage of waste, as well as its processing into reusable energy, fertilizer, and fresh water. In addition, the foundation will support work with local communities to end open defecation and increase access to affordable, long-term sanitation solutions that people will want to use.

Architects talking energy – in Tokyo

2011-07-01T16:29:19-04:00

When I first came to Japan a quarter decade ago, toilets were in unheated spaces, and it was sometimes a shock to sit. About 20 years ago, leaders in the industry came up with a nifty solution: a small heater in the seat. Over time, more and more features were added: massaging and bidet features are common, newer ones have a little air fan for deodorizing,... play music, and light the inside of the bowl. Somewhere along the line, the original reason for the heater itself became less important

Elevating the Discourse: Public Toilets

2011-06-22T13:54:42-04:00

Another small project completed by 3RW for the Nasjonale turistveger. This compact outhouse is located at the Hardangerfjord. The colored concrete adds a touch of frivolity and interest to passing cars. Exterior walls are slate, which is left rough on the interior.

Archinect member Holz.Box, in response to our recently published Op-Ed: The Neglected Public Bathroom, shares with us some amazing toilets around the world, from his blog.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3