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Marc Newson unveils the final Tokyo Toilet project design

2023-01-25T13:44:00-05:00

World-renowned Australian industrial designer Marc Newson has revealed his contribution to the Nippon Foundation’s ongoing The Tokyo Toilet public design project.

Located in the capital’s tourist-heavy Shibuya ward, the Urasando toilet completes the project’s offering of 17 facilities placed across the commercial district beginning in 2020.

Photo: Satoshi Nagare, courtesy of The Nippon Foundation

The design for the public restroom was inspired by elements central to vernacular Japanese architecture. Using a copper Minoko roof common to tea rooms, shrines, and other rural spaces, the concrete structure’s form engenders a “subconscious feeling of comfort and peacefulness” while providing users with an accessible facility whose material selection will, over time, help it blend into the urban fabric of the neighborhood.

Photo: Satoshi Nagare, courtesy of The Nippon Foundation

As Newson explains: “It is important to me that the Toilet feels trustworthy and honest inside and out: The bright...

The Tokyo Toilets project will star in Wim Wenders' next film

2022-06-27T20:41:00-04:00

The fictional film will be set in a public restroom that is part of the real-life urban renewal project known as the “The Tokyo Toilet project", which involves the creation of 17 public bathrooms in key locations in the Japanese capital with designs by world renowned Japanese architects, such as Tadao Ando and Sou Fujimoto. Wenders said he was inspired by the futuristic look and unique cultural spirit of the project and decided to set his forthcoming untitled film inside one of them.

The angsty Alice in the Cities and Tokyo-Ga director said “there is something very Japanese about the idea, about the whole setting […] I almost think it’s a Utopian idea” in reference to the Nippon Foundation’s two-year-old Tokyo Toilet project, which has to date produced 17 different designs from Toyo Ito, Shigeru Ban, and Tadao Ando, among others. Production will begin in October. The film is said to center around four narratives and stars Koji Yakusho in the lead role as a Tokyo sanitation worker.

“First of all, I love architecture. In another life, I certainly want to be an architect. And I slowly realized how close the work of an architect to the work of a director really is in many ways,” he said at a press conference, referencing Ando's design in particular. “I truly feel like he is a contemporary of mine. Though we don”t meet so often, I feel a connection and I’m happy that I kno...

Toyo Ito designs mushroom-shaped public toilets for Tokyo Toilet project

2021-07-29T19:34:00-04:00

Pritzker Prize-winning architect Toyo Ito has unveiled a public bathroom in the shape of three mushrooms as part of the Tokyo Toilet project.

Ito’s contribution is the 11th toilet to open out of the 17 spread and planned across Tokyo’s Shibuya district. The unique bathroom is located at the bottom of a staircase that leads to the Yoyogi Hachimangu shrine. The toilet is split into three cylindrical structures topped with domed roofs that create a form reminiscent of the mushrooms found in the forest surrounding the shrine.

The decision to create three separate buildings is also for the purpose of creating a space that has a high degree of security. The line of sight passes through the volumes, which makes the facility more inviting and calm. Replacing a pre-existing toilet, Ito’s project expands the space of each private room making them spacious enough to provide functions for elderly people and those with children. The functionalities are redistributed across both the men’s and w...

Japanese fashion designer Nigo creates house-shaped public toilet for Tokyo Toilet project

2021-07-16T12:22:00-04:00

Japanese fashion designer Nigo, the man behind the popular clothing brand, A Bathing Ape, has designed a public toilet that takes the shape of a small home as part of the Tokyo Toilet project.

The toilet is located in the Harajuku district within central Tokyo, which is the region of the city that Nigo is originally from. Modest and dainty, it was envisioned to starkly contrast the surrounding high-rise, urban environment.

“First and foremost, I thought about its accessibility and ease of use,” said Nigo. “In contrast to the ever-changing city of Tokyo with its sky-high buildings, I envisioned a toilet that feels like a good old home that stands quietly on a corner of Harajuku. The toilet may feel nostalgic to some and new to others, depending on their age and generation.”

The inspiration for the toilet’s design derives from the Washington Heights Dependent Housing complex, which was a large housing development built in the area by United States Armed Forces in 1946 following Worl...

Tadao Ando completes slick public restroom design for The Tokyo Toilet project

2020-09-14T13:51:00-04:00

THE TOKYO TOILET, an initiative launched by the non-profit The Nippon Foundation to create save, clean, and appealing public restrooms throughout Tokyo's Shibuya ward, just completed its latest facility: Jingu-Dori Park, designed by Pritzker Prize laureate Tadao Ando, features a simple, functional layout realized in the architect's trademark elegant and minimalist formal language.

Photo: Satoshi Nagare.

Five of the 17 planned restroom facilities, designed by Shigeru Ban, Fumihiko Maki, Masamichi Katayama/Wonderwall, and Nao Tamura, already opened to the public earlier this summer while more are expected to launch in 2021, including toilets created by Toyo Ito, Kengo Kuma, and Sou Fujimoto.

Photo: Satoshi Nagare.

"I sought for this small architecture to exceed the boundaries of a public toilet to become a 'place' in the urban landscape that provides immense public value," Tadao Ando describes his concept. "Using this clear and simple reasoning for the concept of this structure, I chose...

The Tokyo Toilet Project: Pritzker Prize winners Shigeru Ban, Tadao Ando, Toyo Ito, and Fumihiko Maki among designers of new public restrooms

2020-08-17T14:36:00-04:00

Noteworthy Japanese architects, and even some Pritzker Prize laureates, are among the creators of 17 innovative public restroom designs throughout the bustling Shibuya area of Tokyo. Launched by the non-profit The Nippon Foundation, THE TOKYO TOILET project hopes to create save, clean, and appealing facilities "to make them accessible for everyone regardless of gender, age, or disability, to demonstrate the possibilities of an inclusive society."

Five of the 17 planned facilities, envisioned by Shigeru Ban, Fumihiko Maki, Masamichi Katayama/Wonderwall, and Nao Tamura, have recently opened to the public while more are expected to launch later this year and in 2021.

The Tadao Ando-designed restroom is scheduled to open on September 7th. Toilets created by Toyo Ito, Kengo Kuma, and Sou Fujimoto will be available next year.

Take a look at the initiative's first five releases below.

Designer: Shigeru Ban

Project description: "There are two things we worry about when entering a public r...