Public Toilets The Implications In/For Architecture By Allaa Mokdad Advisor Deirdre Hennebury A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Architecture in The Lawrence Technological University [2017-2018] Acknowledgments Thank you to my advisor Dr Deirdre Hennebury for all the guid- ance and support in this research inquiry; and my mom and dad and the rest of the Mokdads for all their support during the process. Preface “The toilet is the fundamental zone of interac- tion-on the most intimate level-between humans and architecture. It is the architectural space in which bodies are replenished, inspected, and culti- vated, and where one is left alone for private re- flection- to develop and affirm identity” - Koolhaas, 2014 Content Introduction 1 Abstract 2 Research Method 3 Nomenclature 4 Guiding Questions Theory 5-6 Public Toilet 7 Public 8 Private 9 Toilet Analysis 10 Introduction 11-12 Timeline 13 Definitions 14-24 London 25-31 Paris 32-38 New York 39 Conclusion 40-41 References Abstract A reflection of societal values, the public toilet is a politicized space that provides sanitation in the public realm. In addition to its role in sup- porting a basic human need through sanitation provision, the public toilet is also a space that provides solidarity in the face of congestion, a place where one develops and affirms identity [Koolhaas, 2014]. In the nineteenth century through the twen- ty-first century, the public toilet has shifted from an external urban condition to an interiorized urban issue. It once stood as a symbol of moder- nity in the congested streets of industrial cities, and progressed to be prominently featured in ac- cessibility debates. As a design object with many significant facets, the public toilet continues to appear on the foreground of polarizing trends pertaining to social values. This thesis is a historic-interpretive examination of the public toilet in the last two centuries that reconsiders the boundaries of architectural de- sign. The research informs our understanding of the public toilet in London, Paris, and New York through the lens of hygiene, policy, and design. Analyzing the similar urban conditions with vary- ing political implication reveals compelling trends in architecture. The project reflects on the pol- itics of providing public amenities, the impact of the public toilets in the social realm, and the significance of the role of the architect in the life of the public toilet moving into the twenty-first century. 1 Research Method The overarching research method employed in both semesters has been Interpretive-Historical with an emphasis on evidence found in printed and digital sources including text, maps, photo- graphs, and drawings. The majority of the tex- tual material is secondary content though some primary sources have been used, as well. Imag- es and photographs are drawn from a variety of sources including the author’s own collection. The research was a triangulated approach with readings taking tangents into a diverse range of fields from policy and legislations to urban design studies and to epidemiology. In order to organize this content, a Timeline was devel- oped to create the scaffolding for the findings and begin to form connections between the different fields. In this way, the Timeline serves as a comprehensible diagram of the literature review and it reveals particular moments or “pressure points” that are further investigated in three categories, hygiene, policy, and design considerations come together in compelling ways to influence the space of the public toilet. Three case studies were selected based on the pressure points identified in the Timeline de- veloped in the first semester. The categories we then applied in three individual Timelines curat- ed for each case study in the second semester. The Timelines in semester two are diagrammed in an intertwined network of Policy, Hygiene, and Design implications; which were further analyzed and compared to reveal patterns and trends across the three cities. Audience The primary audience for this research is tar- geted towards designers and architects of the public realm; as well as cultural historians, poli- cy makers, and civic minded design theorist. 2 Nomenclature Powder Room Little Girl’s Room Ladies’ Room Men’s Room Restroom Washroom Lounge Can John Crapper Head Lavatory Bathroom Pot Throne Comfort Station Arsenal Toilet Ajax Relieving Stations The Loo Water Closet Comfort Room Gentlemen’s Room Public Waiting Rooms 3 Guiding Questions Can a study of historical movements in public toilets ameliorate design changes occurring in the twenty-first century public toilet? With an emphasis on pragmatic, human needs, and specifically the public toilet, how has architecture been leveraged historically in the context of polarizing trends? 4 Theory Public Toilet A public toilet is a communal space that pro- eventually became an amenity embedded in vides hygiene and sanitation in the social other establishments as cities continued to realm. Though simple toilets date back to early evolve. civilizations in Mesopotamia, the public latrine was a staple of the Roman City. The Roman In the twentieth century, the public toilet has period is a time when public toilets were most modernized social views of access and inclu- celebrated. They were constructed with simi- sion. The public toilet has been accused of lar significance to other public buildings such discrimination against groups including but as schools, churches, and government build- not limited to women and people with disabil- ings. While the Roman periods offered public ities. The public toilet has since questioned facilities, they had not yet associate water with social values and norms, featuring in conten- diseases, hence the public toilets spread more tious debated on issues of identity and access. germs than actually providing a hygienic space. The first public toilets designed to address is- The public latrine however provided a com- sues of access in the nineteenth century were munal space where people often socialized. introduced in varying conditions. Some, like Cleansing was considered a collective activity, the ones in Paris were inclusive to all genders. using a communal stick with a sponge attached Some, however introduced in the nineteenth to the head of the stick used to clean up af- century required separation between genders, ter themselves. The public latrine was at large the separate spheres ideology of gender was a communal place that provided hygiene and considered inherently carried into the twenti- sanitation. While the Romans provided the first eth and twenty-first century. Women played a public facilities for men, introducing public uri- much smaller role in society, and that was re- nals in the streets would not appear again until flected by the lack of public toilets for women, the nineteenth century. which is still often the case in the twenty-first century [Greed, 2001]. The campaign for pub- The ultimate realization of the public toilet lic lavatories for women was a key component was when its introduction into the nineteenth of the Suffragette Movement beginning in the century metropolis as an object of modernity, nineteenth century, almost with equal impor- addressing issues of hygiene and sanitation, tance to attaining the right to vote. Many other which in turn contributed to the growth and groups saw themselves advocating for a civic prosperity of the nineteenth century city. The role in society through access to the public economic boost due to the industrial revolu- toilet, and similar issues of access continued tion and the end of WWII brought about many to develop based on varying trends. In some improvements to the nineteenth century city parts of the United States, up until 1960s there plans. Beautifying streets included adding were color segregated toilets for people [Pen- lights and street furniture, and other public ner, 2013]. Other access issues also surfaced amenities, including the public toilet. Its intro- during the 1990s in North America for people duction into the city fabric modernized ideas of with disabilities and their rights to access pub- hygiene and sanitation. As the public toilet be- lic facilities. Accessibility rights were eventually came more inclusive in the twentieth century, granted and codes have been modified since it also became more standardized and the early 1990s. 5 Theory Public Toilet Nearly all new public toilets are designed to meet code requirements today. Issues of access continue to reappear in the twenty-first century, a pivotal moment for the public toilet as it comes to face with polarizing social views of privacy and identity. The most recent issue of access question identity and gender politics with the LGBT and Transgender population, bringing to the foreground issues of privacy. Urbanistically the public toilet has shifted from a public free standing object, to one embed- ded in private facilities, and has evolved in some cases to be a public space embedded in a private establishment. It has become an in- teriorized urban condition particularly since its association with the private in public, not only on an urban scale, but also on an architectur- al scale with issues of individuality and privacy emerging in the public realm. 6 Theory Public The concept of publicness brings with it an el- The development of public toilets and personal ement of strangeness to the surroundings, in- hygiene are directly in relation to urbanization cluding other users, and the level of hygiene and public health awareness and its relation- which relates to a person’s concern regarding ship to sanitation. People approach the space privacy. from a personal point as the public toilet is util- itarian in nature, but are instead met with larg- The private nature of a toilet makes public toi- er social issues that are beyond the individual, lets a complex spaces, however privacy was a micro need meeting a macro issue of exclu- never a concern prior to the sixteenth cen- sion based on social factors.