Toyo Ito's design creates a public toilet within three mushroom-shaped blocks as his contribution to the Tokyo Toilet project. The new facilities were built to replace a former toilet block at the bottom of a flight of steps leading up to the popular Yoyogi Hachimangu shrine in the Shibuya district of Tokyo.
Three toilets are reminiscent of mushrooms that harmonize with the forest behind them. Each private room has a large space so that it can be easily used by a variety of people from elderly people and those with children. The functionalities are redistributed across both the men’s and women’s rooms. In addition, the roofs are raised above the walls to allow natural light and air into the toilets.
Three toilets are reminiscent of mushrooms that harmonize with the forest behind them. Each private room has a large space so that it can be easily used by a variety of people from elderly people and those with children. The functionalities are redistributed across both the men’s and women’s rooms. In addition, the roofs are raised above the walls to allow natural light and air into the toilets.
Toyo Ito said that "even I, a man, did not want to use public toilets as much as possible." The design reflects the desire to create a "toilet with a sense of security that allows women to use it even at night and a toilet that has an inconspicuous design and can be used casually"
The toilet block is part of the non-profit Nippon Foundation's project to upgrade facilities in the downtown Shibuya district of Tokyo.
The design opening is part of an effort to improve the city ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, completing and adding public bathroom facilities built by well know by Japanese architects, Ito's project is joined by Shigeru Ban's transparent public toilets, Tadao Ando's circular toilet, Fumihiko Maki's toilet with its "cheerful roof", Takenosuke Sakakura's minimal glass toilet, or proposals by designers as Nao Tamura with her red toilet or Masamichi Katayama's concrete walls toilet.
