Peeing in Public, Planning and Norming the Network of Inclusive, Safe and Clean Public Toilets in Lausanne

Public toilets in Lausanne, like in most cities, are currently sites of exclusion and danger. They reinforce segregation based on gender, physical and mental ability, and class, isolating disabled and trans/gender-nonconforming individuals in unsocial, inadequate spaces. Public perception of these facilities is shaped by toxicophobia, casting them as unsafe and unhygienic. This perception is reinforced by a social narrative that encourages taboos and disgust, exacerbated by systemic neglect. Consequently, at least 65 public toilets have disappeared in the Commune of Lausanne over the past thirty years. Although the commune is now renovating many of its facilities, the risk of perpetuating social differences and excluding certain bodies from urban spaces remains high. The culture of destroying to rebuild persists, rather than addressing root social and spatial inequalities. Despite their crucial role in urban life, the design, placement and maintenance of public toilets remains a pressing issue because of the absence of explicit norms governing their design. This project examines the spatial, social, and regulatory dimensions of Lausanne’s public restrooms to develop inclusive recommendations for their future design and construction. By integrating excretion as fertilizer for the city’s green spaces, through design interventions, the project seeks to re-anchor bodies and needs as part of the commons, bringing visibility to typically concealed processes while challenging the norms that render them marginal, unsightly, or inconvenient.