Safe Haven Bathhouse | Ban Than Song Yang | Thailand

So here it is.
TYIN isn't exactly a firm but an organization that is attempting to implement certain structures in remote areas of Thailand. With modest means the organization, and the student architects it hosts, create very appealing, simple and useful spaces. According to TYIN, the materials are local, found on site or purchased at local markets. This represents what building green really means. Please check out their other projects. TYIN tegnestue.

Photographs by: Pasi Alto

tires become urinals...brilliant!

    

 

a little heart spill | not for the dark at heart

There's always been this one moment, during my college career, that stuck with me. This moment happened during a Design Discussion organized by the faculty in my department. It was about the philosophy of design and what we should really be focusing on as young, fresh designers (not yet jaded by the harsh reality of pod life in Corporate America).
The speaker showed us a photograph of a woman wrapped in her white fluffy robe, sitting on the side of her clean, crisp porcelain tub, overlooking the pristine sea and bathing in nothing but the joy of being able to afford living in this perfect picture. The next photograph was of a water well located in whoknowswhere Africa and the speaker said something along the lines of: "This too is design!".
I'm not saying I'll ever become an engineer-without-borders or pick up and move to the Saharan desert but it certainly made me want to design to improve a quality of life that needs improving.
I stumbled upon an awesome project that made me think of my fellow classmate and friend Mary Kate, who is the kind of designer who is dying to live in whoknowswhere The World In Need.
Hopefully this will inspire you as much as it inspired me.  Thanks MK!

Public Restroom | Lausanne | Switzerland

One public lavatory with a cool "Now you see me, Now you don't!" function. At the press of a button some sort of magical chemistry happens between electric tension and the liquid crystals within the glass. The glass that was once transparent temporarily turns opaque.
It's all fun and games to use and in the case you happen to forget to press the button, it's fun and games for everyone  else.

Trail Restrooms | Texas | 2010

Miro Rivera Architects, based in Austin Texas, concocted this little jewel at the Lady Bird Hike and Bike Trail along the Colorado River. This coiled sculptural element is constructed of staggered Corten steel plates that allow light and fresh air to enter and cycle through the structure. The accommodation offers a sink, shower, toilets and a bench for cyclist, hikers and the usual passer-by's and requires almost no maintenance. The Town Lake Trail Foundation partnering with the city’s Parks and Recreation department built the restroom. Projects like this are like a breath of fresh air. The design is elegant and dramatic and with time, the Corten plates will oxidize and this structure will age so well. 

Raw is oh so beautiful. 

  

Stainless steel fixtures along with ADA compliant handrails.  

3/4" Steel Plate doors.

 Anyway, this award winning firm does it right soooo…Thanks. 
- Miro Rivera Architects

Absolute Arrows | Hiroshima Park Restrooms

FUTURE STUDIO ARCHITECTS based in Hiroshima, Japan designed a series of these park restrooms and they're nothing short of uncommon. These arrow shaped outhouses are playful, sculptural and take architecture seriously. Children and adults enter a space that is functional, cohesive and still interactive with its surroundings. I will always applaud minimalism, if it's well thought through. Children step in here and are still playing, the red handrails framing the fixtures are reminiscent of the playground railings and the light projects your eyes to the sky. It's like being in the space captains private washroom.

Absolute Arrows | Hiroshima Park Restrooms | 2009-2010

FUTURE STUDIO - Public Restrooms

Perry Lakes Bathrooms | Marion | Alabama

Here's an amazing project that was taken by Rural Studio, an undergraduate program at Auburn University, in 2003. A program that helps people, their communities, and offers its students the opportunity to showcase their creative genius.
My professor directed me towards this site while helping me focus in on my design concepts and ideas for the Jump the Gap contest.
"You've got to see this. This bathroom...well, it'll make you want to poop!"- RD

Perry Lakes Bathrooms | Auburn University 

The Shell

The Seat 

The View

"Following the materials palette of the pavilion at Perry Lakes, the students designed three unique toilet "experiences". The first is a fifty-foot "Tall toilet"; the second is the "Long toilet" with 2 cantilevering walls that capture and frame a tree; the third is known as the " Mound toilet" captured in the earthen septic  system of the bathroom complex." - Rural Studio - Auburn University

ROCA-Jump the Gap

I've officially signed up for the 4th edition of the Jump the Gap International Design Contest promoted by ROCA. This contest is a chance for designers to create and imagine new bathroom designs or related products, concept etc.
The life of an Interior Design student is usually spent in a confined studio of 16 or so girls, coffee mugs, coffee cups, coffee spills, coffee hype. Needless to say, I've spent little time scouting the neighborhood restrooms. However, here I am, googling the crap out of new, innovative and inspiring Water Closets for this contest.
I've therefore decided to give this little blog a boost and introduce you to my most exciting finds.

Pressing 'Search' in 5.4.3.2.1....