How a Rare Take On Public Toilet Design Led a Director to Oscars

Redesigned by leading architects for The Tokyo Toilet Project, an initiative to promote universal accessibility in public restrooms, the toilet facilities shine bright in Wim Wenders’ Perfect Days. By Arshan Hussain 

What could possibly be common between a senior officer at Japanese clothing brand Uniqlo, a legendary sportsperson, several noted architects and designers, and an acclaimed film director from Hollywood? The answer to this outlandishly eclectic mix lies in the design of a series of public toilets in Tokyo, which forms the backdrop for an Oscar-nominated film.

The origin of the project began when the city of Tokyo was chosen to host the Olympic and Paralympic games for 2020. Four years ahead of the event, in 2016, Koji Yanai from Uniqlo had a conversation about the games with Shingo Kunieda, a former wheelchair tennis player. Despite the architectural and technological advancements in Japan, Kunieda expressed his concern for the absence of universally accessible public facilities across Tokyo and, thus, the challenges that visitors with disabilities were likely to face. To do his bit in resolving the issue, Yanai proposed the idea of public toilets that would be made for all. He reached out to the city office and The Nippon Foundation, a non-profit grant-making organisation, and approached 16 architects and designers from across the globe to work on cutting-edge public toilets.

These facilities, most of which were completed during the first COVID-19 wave in 2020 with the remaining opening for public use by early 2023, comprised The Tokyo Toilet project, an initiative aimed at designing and/or revitalising public toilets at 17 locations in the Shibuya district of Tokyo.

Once the Covid restrictions eased, Yanai invited the German filmmaker Wim Wenders to look at the project and “to either photograph them or make a short film or a series of short films about them”. Having witnessed the ingenious and innovative design of the toilets, Wenders decided to direct a feature film based on the project. The resulting film, ‘Perfect Days’, went on to earn a nomination at the Academy Awards and a couple of accolades at the Cannes Film Festival. The movie tells the story of a lone man living in modern Tokyo who derives the simple pleasures of life from his job as a maintenance worker cleaning public toilets in the city.

We are looking at select designs from the project that redefined the perception of people around toilets.

Amayadori by Tadao Ando

Pritzker winner and self-taught architect Tadao Ando’s design Amayadori continues his style of simple yet striking architecture. Amayadori means ‘shelter from rain’ in Japanese. Suited to its name, the building is shaped as a circular pavilion with a protruding roof and engawa (an extended floorplate) that serves as a communal space. Vertical louvres cover the facade and a corridor encircles the toilets inside. This latticed wall facilitates the interior passageway with light and wind throughout the day. Surrounded by cherry trees, the pavilion can be accessed from two sides, thereby also helping with cross-ventilation.

A Walk in the Woods by Kengo Kuma

A Walk in the Woods feels like entering a woodcutters’ village. Renowned for his innovative use of material and light structures, architect Kengo Kuma’s design is based on village cabins. The complex, which includes five toilet cabins that accommodate different types of visitors, is envisioned to be a ‘toilet village’ in the verdant greenery of Shoto Park. To maintain sustainability and avoid urban formality, the huts are clad with used cedar boards installed at random angles. The cabins are arranged such that the circulation enables minimum contact by providing multiple entries and exits, in line with the needs of the post-pandemic world.

“By dividing each section into separate buildings, we created a “public toilet village” that is open, breezy, and easy to pass through, a design appropriate for the post-pandemic times. Even in our toilet design, we are entering the age of diversity and a time to go back to the forest,” says the architect about the design.

Glass Cabins by Shigeru Ban

Another Pritzker winner in the lineup of architects for The Tokyo Toilet project is Shigeru Ban. Otherwise famous for his work with prefabricated and unconventional materials, Ban’s design ensures privacy through an innovative intervention that uses glass technology.

Three glass cabins, each serving as one toilet unit, are placed next to each other in groups of three. Once any of these units are occupied, the glass turns opaque thereby indicating occupancy. In the Yoyogi Fukamachi Park, these glass cabins emanate a soft light at night, lending the effect of human-scale lanterns.

Three Mushrooms by Toyo Ito

Architect Toyo Ito opted for a whimsical touch for his addition to the project. Located right beside the Yoyogi-Hachiman shrine in Shibuya, Ito’s design amuses visitors and passersby with three giant mushroom-like buildings.

Built to attain harmony with the shrine forest in the background, the mushrooms are hutments for three toilets with different functions. The cute huts have a natural zen-like look lent by the small round tiles, which create a soft seamless gradation to the ground.

Hi Toilet by Kazoo Sato & Disruption Lab Team

A pristine white dome has been catching the eyeballs in Shibuya’s Nanango Dori Park. When it was installed, little did everyone know that it is a public restroom called the Hi Toilet. Creative media designer Kazoo Sato’s creation is a fully automated facility with all functions from opening the door to flushing activated by voice command.

Sato researched users’ behaviours in public toilets across the world, which inspired him to design a fully voice-activated toilet that helps avoid contact with the surface. The spherical ceiling helps in creating an airflow that enters/exits from the narrow outlets, thus helping vent out unpleasant smells.

Toilet of the Town Lights by Junko Kobayashi

Junko Kobayashi, one of the only two female designers among the creators, uses a cyberpunk touch for her design seated beneath an elevated rail track. Her idea of a public washroom takes the form of a group of rusty cylinders over which a strikingly yellow disc hovers. Each of these cylinders serves as toilet booths for varying needs. The intense industrial look of the complex is balanced by funny silhouettes of rabbits placed on the circular windows on the washroom booths.

Most of the restrooms in The Tokyo Toilet project are equipped with children’s toilets, baby care rooms and changing boards, and special facilities for elderly people, expecting mothers, and people with urinary or digestive issues. The project has been a success in changing people’s perception of public toilets with the help of good design. A survey conducted by the Nippon Foundation in 2023 revealed that these facilities saw a rise in women visitors because of the amenities they provided, with some even reporting a surge of five to seven times the footfall as compared to before.

 

All images courtesy of The Tokyo Toilet and The Nippon Foundation