Public Restroom In Tokyo Treats Users To An Ever-Changing Light Show

As part of an initiative to make public bathrooms more appealing, Japan embarked on the Tokyo Toilet Project, where 17 stalls in Shibuya get makeovers with the help of renowned artists. The facilities are aimed to be inviting to anyone regardless of age, gender, and disability, combating the stigma that public toilets are dirty and grimy.

Last year, the 13th of the 17 toilets, located at Hiroo East Park, was revealed. The concept was designed by Tomohito Ushiro, who took on the challenge as a first-of-a-kind architectural project with the desire to express the ethos that “all people are the same, in the sense that they are all different.”

While seemingly cryptic, Ushiro’s vision was to create a public restroom that every single person would find agreeable, and what better place to situate it than within a lush, green park where it can take on a secondary purpose as a piece of public art?

With a special screen displaying a light show to users, the bathroom can come up with an estimated 7.9 billion patterns—signifying the number of people on Earth at the time—so users will never see the same scene twice.

The patterns change based on the light shining onto the structure, so sunlight filtering through the trees will make a distinct pattern from a waning moon illuminating the area. Aside from just serving as an amenity, Ushiro hopes the toilet can become a significant monument in the area.

Other designs in the Tokyo Toilet Project include a sphere dubbed “the most hygienic public toilet,” one shaped like a mushroom, and another designed to resemble a cozy home. The remaining restrooms will be unveiled in the future.

[via Hyperallergic and The Nippon Foundation, images via Satoshi Nagare for The Nippon Foundation]