World Toilet Summit

In 2001 WTO declared 19th November World Toilet Day (WTD). Today it is celebrated in over 19 countries with over 51 events being hosted by various water and sanitation advocates. World Toilet Organization created WTD to raise global awareness of the struggle 2.6 billion face every day without access to proper, clean sanitation.WTD also brings to the forefront the health, emotional and psychological consequences the poor endure as a result of inadequate sanitation. WTD's popularity is gaining momentum, and in 2010 there were 51 events spanning 19 countries. Our "Big Squat" campaign generated 24 "Big Squats" globally and in Singapore over 600 squatters joined the cause in six locations island-wide. WTO would love to see our day become "The" event that represents the sanitation crisis globally, and we strongly encourage our members, volunteers, the community, media and partners to get behind our cause and support our day. World Toilet Summit

This annually organized event brings together non-profit organizations, government bodies, academia and other industry players to address the sanitation crisis that affects 2.6 billion people globally. The inaugural World Toilet Summit was held in Singapore and across the past 10 years we have seen the summit being held across the globe. Previous summits were held in Seoul, Taipei, Beijing, Shanghai, Belfast, Moscow, Bangkok, New Delhi, Macau and Philadelphia. With the voices of influential leaders of the world coming together, the World Toilet Summit brings an opportunity to bring hope to the 40% of the world’s population needing proper sanitation. World Toilet Summit 2012 The 12th World Toilet Summit, The 1st for Africa, hosted by SATO and FPD, in December 2012, have been designed to muster the individual and collective minds of academia, legal professionals, technical specialist, industry leaders, gender advocacy, civil society, governments, educators and all other role players in the fields of sanitation, education, health and hygiene and human rights.

Op-Ed: The Neglected Public Bathroom

BOB, an inflatable cloud above a public bathroom and forum, the result of a pedagogical experiment involving graduate art and architecture students at Columbia University According to the New York Post, the National 9/11 Memorial will open this year with no bathrooms. The $508 million project will draw legions of visitors and is characterized by gushing water, but anyone seeking a toilet will have to leave the site for a nearby department store. This omission of public bathrooms resonates with a personal architectural experience. Over the past six months, I participated in a collaboration of art and architecture students to design a pavilion at Columbia University. It is located in a courtyard behind the architecture school and will be up for most of the summer. A temporary structure, a pavilion is often the architect’s opportunity to build without the inconvenience of plumbing or other practicalities. By Adrian Coleman Bucking the trend, our team eschewed highbrow inutility to design a public bathroom. Our mantra was an adapted Carl Andre quotation: A society that does not provide public bathrooms does not deserve public art. Columbia has almost no specified public bathrooms. By deploying a public bathroom in an academic courtyard, we wanted to recast a space of seclusion as open and engaged with the city. What distinguished our design from most public bathrooms was its composting toilet. Because our design was temporary, we couldn’t connect to existing pipelines. A septic tank, as in a portable toilet, was also impractical because it required frequent emptying. A composting toilet is a waterless technology that breaks human waste into organic fertilizer. Numerous community gardens in New York use this method because it requires little maintenance, produces a useful product, and is astonishingly unsmelly. Sewer gases are the product of anaerobic digestion, which takes place in a wet system with little oxygen. Composting toilets, through sawdust and a continuous airstream, dry and oxygenate the tank to enable aerobic digestion. Microbes decompose matter efficiently. Instead of manufacturing sulfate or methane gases, the composting toilet produces soil-enriching nitrates and nitrites. In our proposal, the fan-assisted ventilation of the tank also pressurized a large inflatable canopy. This balloon signified the bathroom from a distance. It represented its sphere of influence. We enjoyed the idea that something as taboo as the toilet could support a whimsical and highly visible thought-bubble. Alas, the reality of architecture is that few projects are realized as they are designed. Sometimes the powers-that-be are not interested in experimentation. Columbia Facilities reviewed our proposal early in the semester and expressed sufficient approval such that plans for ordering the composting toilet began during Spring Break. However, during April, with construction under way, Facilities informed us that the composting toilet was not permitted. They raised concerns about the smell of the bathroom, the legality of the installation, and the possibility of a leak. In response, our team put together a lengthy document to address each of their concerns. We included a letter from the manufacturer that verified the toilet would neither smell nor leak and that our installation scheme was consistent with manual specifications. We included passages of code to indicate our proposal was within the boundaries of the law. We also included a contingency plan so that in the unlikely case of a leak, a hazardous waste company could remove the toilet and decontaminate the site within twelve hours. Facilities was unmoved. Next, they claimed our composting toilet had been used in recreational or residential situations but not an academic courtyard. It would require six months of testing prior to installation. The reasoning was finicky, but we realized no matter how we argued our case, Facilities was determined to block the composting toilet. Ultimately, we completed our pavilion with the composting toilet for display purposes only. Named Bob for its gentle undulation, the balloon hangs above the non-functional bathroom and is in inflated by an electric fan separate from the composting system. Although our pavilion does not operate as we wished, we hope the diagram of our intention endures. For many of us, Bob is the first built project in which we were principal designers. The process was inspiring, frustrating, and eye-opening. I am proud of our pavilion, but our non-functional bathroom remains a lost opportunity. That Columbia University found our public bathroom threatening perhaps confirms its urban disengagement. That the City of New York and Columbia University both found public bathrooms to be extraneous or unjustified suggests a broader theme. Our society is invested in the photogenic image of architecture but not the gritty infrastructure to facilitate collective experience. As a young architect interested in more than art museums, I hope to challenge this trend throughout my career. Adrian Coleman is a graduate architecture student at Columbia’s Graduate School of Architecture, Preservation, and Planning. Directed by Professors Galia Solomonoff, Liam Gillick, and Nathan Carter, he and other students designed Bob the Pavilion, which will host various events through the summer of 2011.

Elevating the Discourse: Public Toilets pt. 3

location: Eccleshall Wood (UK) Working with the city of Sheffield, a Sheffield School of Architecture’s MArch studio designed and constructed an awesome dry composting toilet in the nature preserve of Eccleshall Wood. This innovative privy uses no glue or metal fastenings. The stacked timbers create a stunning effect and allow lots of ventilation and illumination, though privacy may be a little lacking. This is an incredible play on the outhouse.

location: Geiranger (NO) Situated at the end of Geirangerfjord, this rest stop by 3RW may be one of the most interesting we’ve run across. The wooden shell is re-used timber from a dilapidated structure. The box is elevated on 5cm structural glazing, creating a fairly incredible effect from the interior. The color of the glazing is reminiscent of the cool hues of mountain lakes. The layering of the wood works really well given the context of the fjord, and is a great re-purposing of materials. This project is yet another stunner built for the Nasjonale turistveger (National tourist routes). We could definitely use better designed (and functioning) toilets along our national routes!

location: Jondal (NO) 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.

location: Brockenhurst (UK) John Pardey Architect have completed several interesting public conveniences, and we thought the form and layout of this one was the most noteworthy. The exterior is finished with stained timber and a zinc roof. The continuous skylight at the roof is a great touch, and provides ample light to the interior. The entire facade is lifted off the ground to aid cleaning and provide ventilation. Both toilet rooms (for men and women, naturally) back up to a shared ‘pipe alley’, keeping plumbing away from bored teenagers. It is easy to see why this was a 2004 finalist for the Prime Minister’s Award for Better Public Building.

location: Ban Tha Song Yang (TH) An elegant toilet and bathing structure for an orphanage in Thailand, this wooden project utilizes local materials and found objects in an incredible manner. The end result is a toilet better than most starchitects could even dream of. The concrete block boxes hold private spaces and provide a nice contrast to the bamboo screen. The total cost of this toilet was NOK22,500 (US$3,230) and was assembled in just over two weeks. TYIN tegnestue provides an excellent model of how simple projects combined with a little brainpower and elbow grease can significantly improve sanitary conditions in even the remotest of locations.

Elevating the Discourse: Public Toilets pt. 2

Set amidst a “who’s who” in Jinhua Architecture Park, these minimal concrete forms allow ventilation and sunlight into the bathrooms. The simple bent, repeated and rotated, creates a rather intriguing effect.

This toilet was part of a fascinating program allowing several up-and-coming Norwegian firms to build stunning projects along the Nasjonale turistveger (National tourist routes). Near the incredible viewing platform completed at the same time, this folly pairs a kiosk and toilet that gently jut out over the landscape. The concrete provides an interesting contrast and durable outer shell to the wooden partitions. Looking out at fjords while squatting must be a proud moment for Norwegians. Additional plans and photos on archdaily.

Completed in 2005, the Amager Strandpark is a manmade island just a short ride from the city center. The comfort stations are paired with showers, kiosks or information centers. These “bunkers” are phenomenal and provide multiple functions (a major bonus, in our eyes) – as meeting points, lounge/skating areas and especially as observation points. The ‘superdutch’ graphics also help identify where you are on the nearly 3 mile island. There are many reasons to have Copenhagen-envy, awesome toilets is definitely one of them.

This incredible landmark features an intensely inverted concrete pyramid that forms the roof. It is held off the exterior walls, creating a clerestory that provides a sliver of natural light to the interior. While we’re typically not huge fans of paint, the Corbusian treatment of the interior color looks good. The roof is pretty amazing – it’s hard to believe this is actually a toilet. Can we have more of these, please?

Elevating the Discourse: Public Toilets pt. 1

Toilets – almost everyone needs them, almost every project has them. Unfortunately, there has been a significant drought of naturally-lit, adequately ventilated and well-designed public restrooms. It’s no secret that light and ventilation keep bacteria and odors at bay – and can potentially elevate the process of squatting to a zen-like experience. Designers also need to work around tougher issues such as bored teenagers, spray paint and burning bowling balls. When working with the Seattle Parks Department, I came to realize that these utilitarian structures needed to ideally be bomb-proof – designed so nothing can burn, pipes are kept safe and with just enough visibility to deter illegal activities yet provide privacy. While you won’t find many comfort stations with Vola fixtures, the following are some of our favorites and definitely take the act of squatting in public to a much, much better place.

Rural Studio has been in the back of our minds since the early days of school. Under the guidance of Sambo, there were some incredible ideas brought to fruition. One of the more interesting realizations was the thesis project for Brannen Park, Melissa Sullivan, Sarah Dunn and Matt Foley. Three toilets, three different experiences. Materials used match a pavilion built at Perry Lakes Park the previous year. These are some loos where you could really meditate for a while.

Two corten endwalls support a 16 mm thick sheet of corten steel. Light, airy and definitely some structural gymnastics, this would make an impressive house – let alone a toilet. More photos/info on archdaily.

A celebration of the road trip, the automobile and durability – this stunning rest stop by BKK exudes a robustness and coolness of yesteryear. Concrete cylinders were cast on site with a ribbed profile to deter graffiti. One would almost need a 356 speedster or 2cv to roll into this baby.