It's been in the news that Rotterdam tries to attract families and businesses to
the city center with housing, excellent public transport and a vibrant public space.
Rotterdam has become the best European city to live in (according to the British
Academy of Urbanism, who awarded the city with the Urbanism Award).
Now that Rotterdam has been acknowledged as worldcity, it's promoted in many different countries who state that Rotterdam is a must-see because of the architecture, restaurants and the Kunsthal.
Rotterdam, that once was known as "the underdog", is now a tourist attraction.
Click to read article
Tourist Maps
What kind of guides are available for tourists?
Starbucks Rotterdam Central Station
I work at Starbucks in the Central Station near track 14. It happens every shift that people come up to me in a hurry to ask if they can use the bathroom. I have to tell them we haven't got one, not even for our own staff. We have to send the full-
bladdered guests to track 1, which is a long walk from here. People get mad and angry but feel symphaty for us aswell because they know what we're going through.
"Hi, can I please use your restroom?"
"I'm sorry, we don't have any here"
"Can you show me which one is closest by?"
Click to read articles
Amsterdam is een seksistische, discriminerende stad voor vrouwen die nodig naar de wc moeten. De gemeente zorgt met zo’n 35 openbare urinoirs wel voor mannen die moeten plassen. Maar er is volgens de app wcvinder slechts één openbaar toilet in Amsterdam waar je als vrouw heen kunt: Waterlooplein 165.
De Romeinen hadden in het jaar nul al openbare toiletten, waarbij iedereen gezellig samen naast
elkaar op de pot zat. Maar tegenwoordig kun je
in NS-Sprinters al niet eens meer naar de wc.
De overheid heeft moeite met burgers die naar
de wc moeten.
Een van de gevolgen in de hoofdstad is het wildplasprobleem. Het Paleis op de Dam is daardoor Amsterdams grootste openbare urinoir. Niet dat je er in kan om je behoefte te doen. Maar omdat mensen er tegenaan piesen. En dat is schadelijk voor het poreuze zandsteen waaruit het zeventiende eeuwse monument, Amsterdams trots, is opgetrokken.
„Je kent het wel. Je bent onderweg
en zoekt een schone wc. Vaak nog
niet zo eenvoudig!”
In winkels mag je vaak niet naar de wc, of die is ergens op de derde etage, ver achterin. In cafés moet je wat bestellen als je naar de wc wil. Het gebeurde die dag een paar keer dat mijn kinderen naar de wc moesten tijdens het winkelen – en ik dacht: waarom is er eigenlijk geen toiletwinkelketen, waar je makkelijk en schoon je behoefte kan doen?”
„We bieden in de eerste plaats een hygiënische plaats om de behoefte te doen. Er zijn constant medewerkers bezig de wc’s schoon te maken. Daarnaast moet naar de wc gaan ook fun zijn, een leuke ervaring. Vandaar dat we de wc’s met foto’s versierd zijn en je koffie to go kunt kopen.”
Niet alleen bedrijven hebben zich met de 2theloo-
keten verbonden, ook de Maag Lever Darm-
stichting, omdat die het van belang vindt dat
er op drukke plekken schone toiletten komen.
Connie Verschoor is een opvallende verschijning in het Rotterdamse nachtleven. Al jarenlang is de 58-jarige toiletjuffrouw het visitekaartje van Cultuurpodium Perron.
Dumpert.nl
Manneken Pis
Het is uitgegroeid tot een van de
beroemdste Belgische en Brusselse
monumenten en een symbool/mascotte
van de stad Brussel.
Marcel Duchamp - Readymades
FOUNTAIN OF INSPIRATION:
Duchamp dared to sign a urinal
and call it art.
He took a plain object out
of its context.
NASA Spacetoilet
The world's most expensive toilet. A Russian-designed system was purchased by NASA for the International Space Station for $19 million. The toilet is designed to work in zero gravity and comes with unglamorous leg restraints and thigh bars. It dries solid waste to eliminate bacteria and odor and it filters urine into drinking water.
Books
There are a lot of books that focus on visiting the toilet and explain how your body works.
Survivalguide for work
About your intestines
Encyclopedia about shit
About the taboo
Jokes to read on the toilet
Phylosophy to read on the toilet
Toilet Do-Book
the weirdest, worst, funniest and most bizarre travel experiences that you do not normally find in a guide book
No Shitting In The Toilet is named after a sign Peter Moore saw on the door of the lavatory at Jack's Cafe in Dali, Yunnan Province, in China. It's a sign that encapsulated his travel philosophy: that things never quite turn out as you expect. You end up in situations that defy logic, rational thought and, quite often, general well-being - and yet you have a brilliant time, not in spite of these situations, but because of them. And this is the philosophy behind this book and the reason why it isn't really a normal travel guide.
Research by BOOM, Rotterdam
Here you can download the document.
I wanted to go into Rotterdam and map public toilets, visit places where tourists could use the bathroom but also where people use the streets as a toilet.
I found a resarch from BOOM, Rotterdam. They located all public toilets and spots where people pee in the streets.
I went to visit these places. These pictures were taken on
wednesday 10th of december during daytime.
Waysigning - always only nearby the toilet or too far from the toilet pointing in a directing without a specific route
strange indication of 'WC' - Beurs?
or none at all
Back to the essence
The only -actual- public toilet
- Rotterdam is a worldcity which attracts tourists. (mainly because of its architecture)
- The streets of Rotterdam are appearently a great facility for people to use as lavatory.
- The wild-pee area's are very populair but also show their own characteristics.
- There are too less public toilets, for exmple the urilifts; they are there but not during the day
- Where do women go? There are too less public toilets for women and they don't seem safe/hygienic. men/women --->
- The waysignage is strange and not clear. They are either only close to the toilet or too far away. For example the
'too-the-loo' in Beurs Metrostation is not shown on the signs nearby but only at one near the 'nieuwe binnenweg' which
is very far from Beurs. For inhabitants it might be clear where they have to go but for tourists this is confusing.
Public Toilets In The Streets
As shown on the picture above, this is the only actual public toilet house. It doesn't look clean nor attractive to go to.
It is not seperated for men and women.
The look of this house is very 'cold' and shabby. If this was in the city-center, it would not invite people to go in.
This toilet is placed here probably only for the taxi-drivers who work late at night.
It is located nearby Rotterdam Central Station, where a toilet can be found at track 1.
It is not in a street where tourists will walk much (city is the other direction).
Public Toilets In The City - Architecture
Architecture in Rotterdam attracts tourists.
In order for public toilets to be attractive, they must have a different look - they must be attractive (and safe)
Because Rotterdam is so well known because of its architecture, these toilets must fit in to the image of rotterdam.
It could be little versions of excisting buildings like the cube-houses or the markthal or 'the pencil' (blaak)
but they could also be new designs that show how well rotterdam handles the details of a city.
In order to get a better grip at this idea I will be contacting the Rotterdamse Academie van Bouwkunst
and try to get in touch with several architects (studios).
Architecture nu en vroeger
Rotterdam is een stad van nieuwbouw en moderne architectuur. Het bombardement in 1940 sloopte bijna de hele binnenstad waardoor de weg voor een nieuw centrum werd vrijgemaakt. Deze vernieuwingsdrang betekende ook het einde van een aantal gebouwen die het bombardement deels overleefde maar waarvoor in de nieuwbouwplannen geen plaats meer was. Vaak mooie gebouwen met een rijke historie. Het bekendste voorbeeld is De Bijenkorf van architect Willem Dudok. Ook na het Duitse bombardement bleef de Nederlandse sloophamer zijn werk doen. Vaak terecht omdat de gerealiseerde nieuwbouw een verbetering is maar ook wel eens onterecht.
voorbeelden hiervan zie je hieronder - ze zouden kunnen dienen als inspiratie voor de nieuwe bouw van toiletten en daarmee aantonen dat het oude rotterdam niet is vergeten - ze zouden toeristen iets kunnen leren over de oude gebouwen die er nu waren en de veranderingen die het met zich meebracht toen deze werden gesloopt.
De toiletten zijn een soort informatiehokken over de stad - waar je toevallig ook kan plassen.
Tourist spots
Besides all the sight-seeing spots, there are only 2 information points for tourists and only 1 typical giftshop as we know giftshops from paris (they're on every corner). The two information-points are at central station and at Beurs.
So in stead of the toilets being informative about the architecture of rotterdam, they could be informative about that in their form/shape and appearance, and be informative in a way that the tourist-information points are. You could buy citymaps, talk to someone who knows the city and can give you tips and directions. A place where you could buy souvenirs etc.
- A toiletlady/man can clean the toilets
- She/he can give information about the city
- She/he can be a cassier for the souvenirs/city guides etc
- She/he creates more personal touch to the toilethouse instead of only having metal doors that make the place look like a shed
- She/he is security - women will feel much more safe
- She/he is a contactpersonal for any question - socializing
She/he must be able to make the place feel like home/their own.
Each house was build for a specific location. One for Erasmusbridge - where people can take pictures from a different view (height) and watch over south with a binuculair. The house for Schouwburg shows really short movies so that people won't be bored during their visit.
During this proces I started looking for ways to present the work.
I am not familiar with architecture so much - I wasn't able
to design these buildings in an esthetic architectural way.
This didn't seem like something I wanted to design.
Building the houses took too much time!
LOCATION BASED
1.
Heat maps give insight in most-visited spots in cities.
Rotterdam Erasmusbrug
All the pictures look so much the same.
Through the bridge it's hard to look at South.
2.
At schouwburgplein are several problems: around it are many urinating-spots. There is a urilift but only for men and not during day-time. Also there is a womens toilet in the garage under it but this one is not female-friendly / hygienic.
At schouwburgplein are Pathe and the Schouwburg - therefor my choice for 'something' with movies.
3.
Museumpark is well-known for it's skatercrews but as you can see it is very flat.
Westblaak skatepark is often very busy - they come here.
I could use the house for them to skate on/off/to. (halfpipe)
Here are no toilets except for inside the museum - which is closed during the day
Sometimes events are held here. Then they have to hire toilet-busses.
(compared to westblaak)
4.
Witte de Withstraat is well-know for it's artistic vibe.
there are many expo-places. Showroom mama, Worm, Tent etc.
Therefor I thought it would be nice that the house would have this feature aswell.
people can apply with their work / send it in and be chosen to showcase it.
I AM NOT AN ARCHITECT
I saw in each location that the house could mean something for this spot.
In stead of looking for an architectural approach - I looked more for icons.
In rotterdam are many icons - as I already dicovered - the Markthal, kunsthal,
de rotterdam etc are very iconic for rotterdam.
So what if these houses have something extra?
WHAT CAN I DO AS A GRAPHIC DESIGNER?
So forget about the real houses. They're just an idea.
I can create some sort of campagne around this idea.
- Tourists/'dagjesmensen' must know how to get there. (if they ask the way in the city sometimes this is drawn on a paper)
- The houses must be attratctive. They need promotion. Other locations are promoted in brochures/cityguides.
(I can design an extra (add-on) for the cityguides) - I do not want to make a new route.
- The houses must be explained , what is it what they stand for? what is so iconic?
- Where are they? (Rotterdam - spread throught the city)
i can make posters that are located nearby the houses with directions on it. - will the people actually go?
I don't want to be advertising for toilets. They won't go if they had other plans. It must be clear it's a restroom/information point.
Tourist know the way by looking on maps/cityguides. Look for another option for this visuals
one map with locations.
explaination to go with it
directions?
ILLUSTRATIONS BY NAZIF LOPULISSA - because i can't draw!!