Men and women seem to be dancing, jumping and skating behind the seemingly translucent facade of this public restroom, which has just been named Japanese Toilet of the Year (+ film).
Designed by Tokyo-primarily based Klein Dytham Architecture, Gallery TOTO is a public toilet within Narita Airport, despite the fact that it also functions as a showroom for Japanese bathroom brand TOTO.
It was recently awarded as greatest toilet in Japan by the ministry of land, infrastructure and transportation.
From the outside, the facility appears to have translucent walls that reveal the silhouettes of the toilet end users behind.
But these are in fact LED screens, enjoying prerecorded sequences that include dance events and cleaning.
“We have been interested in the notion of the most private spot becoming in a most public location,” explained architect and studio co-founder Mark Dytham, whose past projects incorporate offices for Google and YouTube.
“We wanted to get away from the perception of toilets as closed and dark environments, where one can seldom see past the entrance area, and in which 1 is only confronted with a series of terraced stalls,” he advised Dezeen.
The whole block is encased in clear glass and houses ten individual toilet cubicles.
Associated story: Dezeen’s top 10: toilets
Behind the glass, 6 of the cubicles are fronted by 1 or two low-resolution LED panels, masked by material screens.
When movies are played on the screens, it creates the illusion that toilet occupants are on present to absolutely everyone else in the airport terminal, when in reality they have total privacy.
The effect is similar to the view by means of a standard Japanese room divider.
“When not illuminated the wall looks just like a textile and is quite soft, like a shoji display,” said Dytham.
“An LED panel would have given a challenging, sharp image, but right here the minimal-resolution digital image and tactile fabric provide an image that seems more like a soft shadow.”
The architects worked with creative agency Black Bass and contemporary dance business Unusual Kinoko to choreograph the 20-minute overall performance of “silhouetted happenings” in the toilets.
The sequence also consists of images of moving water and splattered paint.
Every toilet is also fitted with an LED indicator strip displaying how prolonged the cubicle has been in use for, so that people waiting can see which one is likely to become free next. “The indicator is like a thermometer that can be witnessed from both side,” mentioned Dytham.
Inside, every cubicle is decorated with images of landscapes.
Gallery TOTO is found in the Sky Lounge, which connects Narita Terminal 2 to its satellite terminal. It types portion of a series of upgrades underway at the airport in preparation for the 2020 Olympic Video games.
Sky Lounge strategy – click for greater image 
Gallery TOTO plan – click for greater image 
