Latrinalia (pl. n.)
Deliberately inscribed markings made on bathrooms or lavatory walls. It can take the form of art, drawings, or words, including poetry and personal reflections.
Wikipedia entry for Latrinalia (Wikipedia, 2021)
Welcome to Latrinalia, a discussion space to seek help, share information and join conversations around the design and operation of non-domestic toilets. Latrinalia is open to anyone. It relies on each of us sharing our curiosity, knowledge, creativity and experiences with each other. Just register as a new user and check our guidelines. Each new post appears in the grid below. These include discussions, questions and announcements from the community.
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Engaged: a toilet on every high street
- Engaged is a design research project by Royal College of Art and PiM.Studio Architects. It's aim is to investigate the reuse of vacant high street units as toilets. (more…)
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Publicly Accessible Toilets after COVID-19: an update to design guidance
- This new guidance shows how future toilets can be designed to be more hygienic, and also more accessible and inclusive, as a critical part of public health infrastructure. (more…)
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- Guidance
Publicly Accessible Toilets after COVID-19: an update to design guidance
- This new guidance shows how future toilets can be designed to be more hygienic, and also more accessible and inclusive, as a critical part of public health infrastructure. (more…)
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- Guidance
New Resource: Everyday Life with IBS
- This 2021 animation, based on Dr Lauren White's research, captures the common experiences of living with IBS in everyday life.
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- Uncategorized
The Toilet Paper: Improving London’s loos
- The London Assembly Health Committee has made 12 recommendations on how to improve the Capital's toilets, following a public consultation. https://www.london.gov.uk/assembly-publications/toilet-paper-improving-londons-loos
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- ConsultationGuidance
Design.Sanitation Online Event – 19 Nov
- 'Design.Sanitation: What challenges do designers face in providing sanitation that is both sustainable and inclusive?' (more…)
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- Event
Consultation: Access to Public Toilets in London
- The London Assembly Health Committee investigation is considering how toilet provision can be improved in London and what more the Mayor can do, (more…)
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- Consultation
Guardian Online: Low risk of catching Covid in public toilets, study finds
- Researchers analysing 38 studies from 13 countries, published between 2000-2020, have found that (more…)
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- Article
Contactless payments – Is this the way forward in the 21st Century?
- A public toilet is not always easy to find and when you do, the chances are that you cannot access the facility unless you pay to enter it. (more…)
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- Discussion
Great questions!
Here in London, I noticed that the Royal Parks who manage most of London’s parks, have switched to contactless-only payment (they’ve charged 20p for a few years). https://www.royalparks.org.uk/coronavirus-updates#toilets
I understand it’s better and easier since the pandemic, to handle payments this way. It also makes the whole payment system easier to manage (I think) as ‘handling cash’ is often said to be expensive?
But it does make me uneasy, as an exclusive service. Particularly in parks which provide free access to green space, for everyone. On one hand there are no nearby alternatives (eg shops) to use instead, on the other hand there are lots of bushes giving some the opportunity or temptation to go elsewhere. Interesting to see how to goes!
Quite a change, also, from Network Rail who removed their charges from their stations, despite £millions of revenue, on accessibility/inclusivity grounds, I think.
When Westminster introduced charging (through CityLoos) they had a list of people exempt from paying (including disabled, low-income, council officers I think) – presumably at the discretion of the attendant. But for this you need attendants to manage it – not sure if the Parks do – or if they’ve stated any exemptions to charges? In the future, could contactless exemption cards be introduced (combining – or comprising different elements of – RADAR cards, Just Can’t Wait cards)?