Roman Public Toliets

Public toilets were a propionate part of the Roman society; everyone sitting together using the bathroom was a normal way of life. In their culture it was more of a social aspect than a daily need. "According to O.F. Robinson, Ancient Rome: City Planning and Administration, public bathhouses were comfortable places, where one might sit and read, or otherwise "amuse oneself sociably, hoping for [dinner] invitations.” [1] The concept of the bathroom being a private place did not exist and it was not only a public aspect of life it was an extremely social event.  In addition to the public use of the bathrooms the concept of toilet paper did not exist, instead there were communal sponges that everyone used and shared and by this the privacy level was also lessened. However, to the people at the time the bathroom practices were a normal thing. Furthermore at the public urinals the waste produced by the toilet was collected regularly and sold to fullers for cleaning wool, etc. The concept on toilets as a private matter that is hidden from others is a typical concept today but without roman innovation of water systems and sewers this would not be possible today. Roman bathroom practices were different than ours today but they were the ones that directly informed our practices today. 

Sources: 

[1]   http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/hygienebaths/a/102310-Hygiene-In-Ancient-Rome.htm

Spluch: Chongqing's Openair Public Toilet Julie Russi

These open air toilets/urinals in China have caused a big controversy because of how very public this porcelain palace is. This design definitely reflects how big they want to shine light to this taboo subject. This not only is very open but the fact that it is so bold and colorful really shows that they wanted it to be seen and known about. It pokes fun using sculptures of lips, butts, and even what looks like to be female faces. While using the toilets one can also enjoy music and even sun bathe while using them. The composition of it all is completely made so that there is absolutely no privacy and visitors can even get a bird's eye view from a hill.

Although most of it is mischievous fun as the designer Lu Xiaoqing says a lot of different responses have been given about it. The feedback was broken into female, male, and the elderly. Most males enjoyed it and thought of it as a fun and new. Women on the other hand said they were often overcrowded because of the women use of the toilet being different than the males. And the elderly found it offensive and thought having a female face as a urinal very unacceptable.  

Lu Xiaoqing says, "that the toilet culture should be celebrated and as major joy of life it should not be suppressed in the environment." Whether some people agree or disagree with his statement is very true that this subject that is taboo and has been tried to be kept as private as possible to different extents over time and now many are trying to shine light to one of the most essential needs of human life.

http://spluch.blogspot.com/2007/06/chongqings-openair-public-toilet.html

roman public toilets

public items within the bathing area were a very prominent feature in ancient rome. one of the main items was the communal toilet. when we think about the word communal, it generally means that everybody is able to use it. and when we think of the word public, it generally means out in the open, visible to everyone. so when we put the two together, we're generally talking about using a toilet in front of everybody, that everybody has used at one point in time. the toilets usually don't have seats, as well as they don't tend to be the type that flush either. most of the time, when searching for a public toilet, they are not easy to spot. the toilets don't have seats, so sometimes they're just holes in the ground or just holes on square blocks. when using these toilets, you also have to position yourself correctly, because otherwise, it could get very messy. speaking of keeping things clean, ancient rome did not have toilet paper. instead, they had a communal sponge. now think about that for a second. a sponge is much more personal than just sitting on a toilet. the sponge had to be thoroughly cleaned after every use for it to remain somewhat sanitary.



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500 word blurb- Savannah Relos

The portable toilet was invented in the 1960’s by George Harding, who worked for Poly- John Enterprises. He was co- founder of the company along with Ed Cooper and George Hiskes. Poly- John is one of the leading manufacturers of polyethylene toilets, sinks and tanks, many of which are portable like the original Portable toilet.  Portable toilets are also known as Porta- Potties, Porta- Johns, Porta- Loo, Tidy John and even Portable Sanitation Unit. They are made out of standard molded plastic in gross colors such as dark pea green, faded blue and dark grey. These toilets are generally three by seven feet, approximately the size of your standard coat closet, and feature a rounded black plastic seat with a chemical bath for your wastes to drop into. The trick to using these bathrooms is to not let the blue chemical water to splash back up on you.  The chemicals used in porta potties can include formaldehyde, disinfectants like ammonium and ethanol and other smelly components designed to mask the smell of everyone else who has already used the toilet before you. There is place for the toilet paper to sit but most of the time it is just a cardboard tube. Afterwards you can diligently clean your hands with the hand sanitizer provided that often makes your hands smell for at least another hour. Porta Johns also don’t normally have a light inside because it is impractical to hook up every toilet to a massive power cord. This means if you need to go to the bathroom and you are at a carnival or haunted trail, you might want to go before dark because not only is it very dark inside, the carnival or trail workers like to mess with you and bang on the walls while you pee. Anyone can order a porta potty from several different companies and Porta Potties are seen at construction sites, carnivals, and haunted trails, along sightseeing paths such as the Grand Canyon, etc. These toilets are often seen as disgusting places but it puts a whole new spin on the saying “When you gotta go you gotta go!”

Transparent Public Toilet by Anna Lance

This toilet is placed in the middle of a street in Lausanne, Switzerland. The structure is made up of eleven glass sides, designed in 2008. This restroom is placed in a very urban area. The design of the restroom relates to the building across the street from it. The walls are partly made of liquid crystal glass, so at the push of a button the person occupying the bathroom can make the walls opaque. The liquid crystal glass wall is transparent under electric tension, showing its functional and clean interior to the people walking past, but by the press of a button the walls becomes out of tension, causing the glass to go dark, which ensures privacy for the person using the toilet. 

Although you could say this restroom can become pretty private, illegal activity can occur within this fully enclosed space. The designer, Oloom, took this into consideration somewhat when building the structure. If there is too much activity within the space or not enough the walls become transparent again, exposing its insides once again to the outside world. “Partying” or moving around a lot couldn’t occur within the space while the walls were out of tension within the liquid crystal glass. This could still lead to issues in certain places. I think the location of where you would place a public restroom such as this is important. The cost of this toilet also ties into the reason it wouldn’t be the best idea for certain areas. The glass walls could be easily broken. Oloom states “An innovative concept to deal with insecurity problems whilst playing with transparency.”

This toilet fits in our exhibit because of its innovative way of thinking.  It deals with the battle between how private this public toilet actually is. Although it’s enclosed is it really “all that private.” You can actually alter the amount of privacy just by the push of a button!  

Japanese Squat Toilet

Japanese squat toilets : unknown : early periods to present : wood/ceramic : Japan

The traditional Japanese squat toilet, also know as the Asian toilet, is very different than most Western toilets.  Most of these toilets are made of porcelain, although other materials can be used such as wood and stainless steel.  Rather than having a large bowl like Western toilets have, the squat toilet is very shallow, however they both flush very similarly.  There are two variations of the squat toilet: one is where the toilet is sitting on the ground and the other is when it is raised up about one foot.

            While the creator and exact time the squat toilet is unknown, there is evidence that there was a drainage system created in the capital of Nara around 710-784, which consisted of a ten to fifteen centimeter wide stream where the natives would squat while putting their feet on either side of the stream.  The earliest toilets were also created around this time that were similar to outhouses.  Later, pit toilets were more common, which were very easy simple to create and would also help fertilize the land.   This practice, however, became much less common after World War II.  Throughout history, Japan has been much more hygienic than Europe and other Western countries, where sewage was often dumped on the streets.  Western-style toilets and urinals became more apparent in Japan towards the beginning of the 20^th century, but became even more common after World War II.  In 1977, the sale of Western-style toilets exceeded the sale of the traditional Japan squat toilet.

            The squat toilet, included with plumbing, did not appear until after the Tokyo earthquake in 1923, when the Japanese realized hygiene and a more efficient and clean sewage system would reduce diseases.  It is still largely used in Japan, however Western-style toilets have become more prevalent.

    The Japanese squat toilet is almost like a urinal that has been placed on the ground.  The color is usually white porcelain, which is very similar to Western toilets.  It is a smooth texture, and the size is also about that of a Western urinal.  It is very symmetrical, having both side of it look very similar to one another.  Since it can be raised on a one-foot platform, this does at some depth to the toilet and creates a different experience for the user.  For the most part, it is in the shape of a rectangle that has a shallow, smaller oval-like hole that is cut out of it.  Some may include a curved, raised front or some other sort of embellishment.  There will occasionally be some texture, but if it is apparent it is very minimal.  For the most part, they are very smooth and lack value and contrast. 

            This toilet is important to our “Journey to the John” exhibit because it not only shows a different style of toilet that is produced from a different history than many other toilets, but is also from an Eastern country, rather than a Western.  Since our exhibit deals with toilets throughout time as well as places, the Japanese squat toilet is a good representation of both of these things.  Even thought it is somewhat similar to Western toilets in terms of texture and color, it is still uses a very different method.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toilets_in_Japan

http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Japanese_toilet_-_History/id/1526320

http://www.ehow.com/about_7523039_traditional-japanese-toilet.html

image:

http://inventorspot.com/articles/japanese_toilets_toto_5847

Portable Toilet

Most people realize that hygienic sanitary conditions cannot be guaranteed when they are in an outside environment, such as going camping, hiking or being involved in a project work that needs to be moved between two, or more places. The neglect of providing hygienic sanitary conditions can lead to creating many health problems. Under this circumstance, we have to come up with a new idea to solve this problem, thus the Portable Toilet comes into the picture.

           

            The first portable toilet dates back to the mid-fourteenth century B.C. In Egypt, a wooden stool with a large slot in the middle for use with a pottery vessel beneath it was discovered in the tomb of Kha. Until the eighteenth century, the portable chamber pot, a slightly more modern variation of this first portable toilet, was the most commonly used lavatory facility. In 1886, Thomas Crapper created the first flushable toilet featuring a water tank placed high above the toilet bowl to actually flush out the contents of the bowl, rather than merely dilute them. The modern plastic portable toilet has been manufactured since the 1960s. Inventors have combined the portability of the more ancient lavatories with the sanitary benefits of the modern toilet to create a contained system that is also compact, lightweight, and transportable.

           

            The main component of the facility is light-weight sheet plastic, such as polyethylene, which forms the actual toilet unit as well as the cabana in which it is contained. The portable toilet is formed into a box-like structure and the top sheet contains an opening for placement of the toilet tank which with a pump form the portable sewage system  and are fastened with screws, nails, rivets, bolts, and hinges. A chemical supply container and inlet tube are also equipped in the facility.

           

            The  reason why we choose the portable toilet as an artifact in this exhibit because its appearance solves the sanitary problem when people have to be involved in  an outside project or a camp. By glancing over the evolution of the toilet, from the deep cesspits of the Saxons to potties of the medieval times, from Henry VIII’s portable toilet to Victorians' privy, the toilet was changed with the functional demand. Though, the portable toilets cannot give the identical comfort as inbuilt toilets in homes, they can replicate most of the functions of home based toilets. On the other hand, portable toilets also have commercial advantages. Take an outdoor industrial event for example; the portable toilet is preferred among supervisors of outdoor projects who must not only meet the demands of providing a toilet, but must also meet the workers demands to have a hygienic, sanitary, and efficient toilet, because it satisfies both requests. Furthermore, portable toilets are becoming more and more frequently used, and as a result, the services they provide meet many economical requirements and can be seen as quite beneficial in the industrial world.

           

            The portable toilet facilitates people's lives as well as improves the cleanliness, and it marks a foot print on the evolution of the toilets. This is mainly due to its’ convenience and hygienic characteristics that people benefit greatly from it, which to some extent, also promotes the development of economy.