Tokyo's Transparent Public Toilets
In 2020, these public toilets with transparent glass walls in bright colors were installed in Yoyogi district in Tokyo. The transparent walls let you see how clean they are from the outside. Once you go inside and lock the door the walls turn opaque so the user cannot be seen!
The walls are made of glass covered with PDLC film that is transparent when electricity is applied. Locking the door turns off the electricity making the glass opaque again. They were designed by Shigeru Ban to give users a safe, clean, comfortable public toilet. You can be sure it is clean and that no one is hiding inside before you enter.
What a great idea! Remember to lock the door after you go inside.
8 comments:
Clever -- so long as they work!
Interesting design! Well, the japanese are known as innovative in almost any field of life.
Now that is a clever idea! I agree with Julie though and hope they work for whoever uses them.
Oops, I meant Jeannie.
Many cars, usually for VIPs, have 'two-way glass, so you can look out, but not in. Do you think the glass used for the lavatories in Yoyogi work in the same way? I mean, when you are inside and the door is locked, people outside can not see inside, right, but can YOU see THEM?
I am sure this will be a tourist attraction. I also wonder if there will be flashers exposing themselves in public and claiming they didn't know they have to lock the door...
Pamela, you always come up with interesting snippets of news which set our thoughts in motion.
I checked this news.
I found it to be a project of The Nippon Foundation.
The image of Japanese public toilets is “dark,dirty,smelly,scary”.
Therefore, it seems that we have broken away from this image and created a public toilet that anyone can use safely and securely.
I think it's a good attempt.
The Nippon Foundation seems to be focusing on cleaning. But the person who uses it must make an effort to keep it clean.
I think this is pretty important.
Hi Pamela: Oh my, what happens if the film fails and the person inside is unaware? of what happened, giggles I would hate to have that happen.
Catherine
I like these better than the ones were you can see out, but not in! These are actually useful.
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