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As public bathrooms continue to be one of the rarest commodities in the city, the Adams administration has not provided a timeline or any details for the installation of 15 automatic sidewalk toilets unused for more than a decade.
But only five of the toilets have been installed and the city has struggled to find suitable new spots. For years, the others remained mothballed in a Queens warehouse but city officials declined to detail where they are currently located.
— The City
The toilets are a holdover of the Bloomberg administration, which signed a franchising agreement with Cemusa (later JC Decaux) in 2006 that was supposed to provide 20 such facilities at a cost of around $500,000 apiece. Recently, the city declared it will not force dining establishments to offer... View full entry
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... View full entry
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... View full entry
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... View full entry
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... View full entry
A religious organization sued the city of San Francisco to remove an open-air urinal from a popular park that it calls unsanitary and indecent.
The Chinese Christian Union of SF filed a civil complaint last week demanding the city remove the concrete circular urinal from iconic Dolores Park.
The group says the urinal, which is out in the open and screened only with plants for privacy, "emanates offensive odors," ''has no hand-washing facilities" and "it's offensive to manners and morals."
— AP
For more toilet-related designs, check out these links:This Nano Membrane Toilet could solve the world's sanitation crisis – and charge our phonesToilets for everyone: the politics of inclusive design"Toilet Talk" – gender inclusivity in public restrooms, featuring... View full entry
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. — forbes.com
