Marc Newson, one of the world’s most famous furniture and industrial designers, has just unveiled his latest project. In a sense, it’s a seat, but one unlike the iconic chairs and lounges he’s designed in the past. This seat is actually part of a bathroom he’s designed that anyone can use for free.
Known for his furniture designs and work with companies ranging from Apple to Nike to Louis Vuitton, Newson has now applied his design chops to a public bathroom for the city of Tokyo, part of a citywide effort to inject beautiful toilets into the public realm.
Funded by the Nippon Foundation, the project has enlisted the design talents of notable architects including Pritzker Prize winners Tadao Ando, Toyo Ito, Fumihiko Maki, and Shigeru Ban. Launched in 2020, the Tokyo Toilet project is adding 17 new public restrooms to the neighborhood of Shibuya, famous for its mega pedestrian crossing and one of the busiest centers of the city.
Newson’s contribution to the project is a small, hut-like building tucked beneath an overhead rail line, with a rock-lined foundation, smooth concrete walls, and a copper-lined pyramidal roof inspired by Japanese shrines and tea rooms. Inside, the bathroom is as slick as an airport luxury lounge (which Newson has also designed). Its gently curving walls are a pale mint green, with recessed lighting peeking out from the perimeter where the walls meet the ceiling. Officially open since January 20, the bathroom is accessibly designed, and includes facilities for men and women, with a private compartment in between. Newson’s is the project is the 14th bathroom to open, and the final three are expected to open within the year.
“The use of public toilets in Japan is limited because of stereotypes that they are dark, dirty, smelly, and scary,” Mihoko Ueki, project coordinator from the Nippon Foundation, told Fast Company when the project launched. Hiring top-shelf designers to rethink these spaces is part of an effort to change people’s perceptions of what public restrooms can be.
In addition to funding the bathrooms’ unique designs and construction, the foundation is also working with the local government and tourism association to provide another feature intended to improve the public’s image of public toilets: ongoing maintenance and regular cleaning.
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