Tokyo Toilet Project and Architecture Tour with Private Car

Tokyo International Forum

This postmodern masterpiece, the work of Uruguay-born American architect Rafael Viñoly, is the first major convention and art center of its kind in Tokyo. It is considered as one of Japan’s most important modern cultural buildings.

Roppongi

There are some art galleries and the three points of what’s known as Art Triangle Roppongi―the National Art Center, Mori Art Museum, and Suntory Museum of Art. The neighborhood is also home to the Fujifilm Square photo gallery, 21_21 Design Sight, and many other art and cultural events. The stuning Tokyo National Art Center is close to here. It is designed by famous architect named Kisho Kurokawa.

Omotesando

With Tokyo's impressive array of high-end fashion and jewelry stores has come an equally astonishing collection of beautiful buildings. Start at the Prada flagship store created by The Swiss-based Herzog & de Meuron team is a beautiful glass building. Across the street they reprised their hit with the new Miu Miu flagship in 2015, made of aluminum and brass. Next door are glittery buildings for Chloé and Cartier. Part of Chloé's facade is hidden behind wooden bamboolike slits that tilt and jut high into the air at random. Famous Pineapple cake shop Sunny Hills is spiky wooden building designed by the Japan’s leading architect Kengo Kuma. Dior Omotesando is designed by Pritzker Architecture Prize recipients Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of SANAA. Moving projections play on the building during most of the year.

Takeshita Street

Harajuku will give you some insight into the youth culture of Japan. You will see unique fashion trends and outrageous design in fashion and buildings.

This toilet was designed by Tadao Ando. The concept of this architecture is to go beyond the framework of a public toilet and become a ``place'' that brings great public value within the urban landscape. This toilet, located in the greenery of Jingu-dori Park, is named ``Amayadori'' which literally means when it rains, wait for a while under the eaves or in the shade of a tree until it stops.

This toilet was designed by Nao Tamura, who currently lives in New York. Living in New York, he had the opportunity to witness LGBTQ people living in line with their sexual identities, so when he designed this public restroom on a small triangular lot in Shibuya, he envisioned a society where all people would have the space to live as they are. Realizing that what makes their comfortable lives possible is, after all, safety, privacy, and urgency. With this in mind, he created three separate spaces that redefine the way public restrooms establish personal space. The design was inspired by origata, a traditional Japanese decorative packaging method. This motif, which is a symbol of gift-giving, embodies the spirit of hospitality for the multinational people who visit Shibuya Ward, and his vision of creating a safe space that embraces all users. This design incorporates his wish for a society where people from all walks of life can live with peace of mind.

Ebisu Park

This is a design proposal for a public toilet inside Ebisu Park. The proposal is part of Shibuya City’s THE TOKYO TOILET project. We kept in mind a facility that distances itself from architectural concepts and elements: an object that stands casually in the park as if it were playground equipment, benches, or trees. The city asked Masamichi Katayama who designed this toilet to put this concept in it. The spaces between the walls lead users into three different areas designed for men, women, and everyone. The design creates a unique relationship in which users are invited to interact with the facility as if they are playing with a curious piece of playground equipment.

Ebisu Station

Clean and safe. Since the toilet located beside the police box in front of the Ebisu station is a neighborhood symbol that people see every day, the thought it should not be too conspicuous. The facility should be easy to enter, easy to use, and have a clean appearance that inspire the passersby to feel a little bit brighter and fresher. This pure white toilet was designed by addressing every point of consideration that are usually taken for granted in a restroom facility. This toilet was designed by Kashiwa Sato.

Ebisu Higashi Park

The project site, Ebisu East Park, is a popular neighborhood park that is used as a children's playground and is filled with lush greenery. We wanted this facility to function not only as a public restroom but as a public space that serves as a park pavilion equipped with a rest area. Thinking about a variety of users, from children to people on their way to work, we wanted to create a safe and comfortable space that uses a decentralized layout to allow for good sight lines throughout the facility. The cheerful roof that integrates the different sections promotes ventilation and natural light, creating a bright and clean environment while giving the facility a unique appearance similar to playground equipment. Ebisu East Park is also known as “Octopus Park” because of its octopus playground equipment. We hope this new facility, the “Squid Toilet,” will become a popular addition to the park. This toilet was designed by Fumihiko Maki

Nabeshima Shoto Park

This toilet is named "A Walk in the Woods" . It designed by Kengo Kuma. We designed a toilet village inside the lush greenery of Shoto Park. The five huts, each covered with eared cedar board louvers installed at random angles, are connected by a walk in the woods that disappears into the forest. Each toilet that makes up the village is designed with a distinct layout, facility, and interior to accommodate different needs (family, dressing and grooming, wheelchair, etc). By dividing each section into separate buildings, we created a “public toilet village” that is open, breezy, and easy to pass through, a design appropriate for the post-pandemic times. Even in our toilet design, we are entering the age of diversity and a time to go back to the forest.

Yoyogi Fukamachisho Park

This See-through toilet was designed by Shigeru Ban. There are two things we worry about when entering a public toilet, especially those located at a park. The first is cleanliness, and the second is whether anyone is inside. Using the latest technology, the exterior glass turns opaque when locked. This allows users to check the cleanliness and whether anyone is using the toilet from the outside. At night, the facility lights up the park like a beautiful lantern.

Yoyogi Hachimangu Shrine

This toilet is named "Three Mushrooms". They were designed by Toyo Ito. The toilets resemble three mushrooms that sprouted from the forest around Yoyogi-Hachiman shrine. Despite being built along the main thoroughfare of Yamate-Dori, they sit at the footsteps that lead to the shrine. The impression of mushrooms creates a sense of harmony with the forest in the background. Having three separate toilets with circulation space in between makes it easy to navigate. Connecting paths with no dead-ends also allow good visual connection, creating a safe environment and preventing crime. By securing ample space and by equipping elderly and parental functions that are usually only available in accessible toilets within each toilet ensure that the facility is truly public and accessible by everyone.

Yoyogi

This toilet is named "Vessels and Fountains". It was designed by Sou Fujimoto. He believes that a public toilet is an urban watering place, a fountain in the city. He proposes a public hand-washing facility that is open not only to those who use the restrooms but also to a wide variety of people with different purposes. The toilet acts as a single large vessel made for everyone’s use. The shape of the facility, with its large concave center, is the result of incorporating hand washing stations of various heights. It is intended to create a small community of people, from children to the elderly, to gather around the vessel to wash their hands, drink water, and engage in conversation. We would like to propose a new type of public space where people can gather and communicate around water.

Shinjuku

Some buildings including Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in Shinjuku are designed by Kenzo Tange