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The latest fashion in Tokyo has to do with art, but also with exhibitionism. Namely: transparent and well-lit public toilets with colored lanterns so that their user does not go unnoticed. Would you dare to use them? In the Japanese capital they have not thought twice about it and it is causing a real furor among pedestrians, who do not hesitate to access these rooms that are also designer.

Not surprisingly, they are part of an urban art initiative called The Tokyo Toilet that aims to renovate the Shibuya neighborhood , the monumental and most famous neighborhood in the world with a good handful of zebra crossings in between. There, it has opted for the construction of 17 public toilets created by 16 renowned architects and artists from Japan, such as Tadao Ando, ​​Toyo It or Shigeru Ban.

Last generation technology

They have been responsible for these multicolored genius (there is none like it) to wash the face of the neighborhood. The idea came from the non-profit organization Nippon Foundation , which passed it on to the Shibuya district authorities, who welcomed it with open arms.

A young woman walks in front of the transparent public toilets in Tokyo.EFE

Extreme hygiene and technological sophistication abound, like everything in this country. At the beginning of the month five of these toilets were installed and the idea is to inaugurate the rest throughout this year and even into 2021.

The success of the project is being such that both their own and strangers come to them not only to make use of them, but to upload the snapshot to social networks. The two most liked toilets are located next to the well-known Yoyogi and Haru-no-Ogawa parks. Both have been created by the architect Shigeru Ban , Pritzker Prize winner in 2014 and recognized for his works made with sustainable materials, as is the case with this duo of artistic urinals.

For men, women and multi-services

These are transparent rooms in which you can see the toilets or sinks from the outside and in the event that no one is using them, explains Efe. The moment you enter them and close the door, their windows turn opaque.

A passerby figures the artistic baths of the Japanese capital.

This curious design, together with the latest technology, allows users to "check from the outside whether the bathrooms are occupied and whether they are clean", two issues that constitute "the main concerns for those who visit a public toilet in a park", as he points out. the architect Ban.

The local designer Nao Tamura residing in New York has opted for passion red for the exterior of her installation, triangular in shape and divided into three toilets for women, men and multi-services . "I wanted to create three different spaces to redefine the way a public bathroom establishes personal space." In this way, he wants me to also wink at the LGTBI + community , granting them their own space.

All the works are enabled for people in wheelchairs and in some of them there is equipment to change babies or so that the elderly or children can cope without problems.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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