by Johannes Tovatt/Tovatt Architects & Planners AB

 

If there is such a thing as �Private Water� in our daily lives, then the space that provides it has an immense importance. Environments that contain one or several of the four natural elements attract people to stay and take a break. They also create a sense of focus. We all know them – a fireplace, a pond, the fresh breeze...

 

In many cultures, the kitchen is at the heart of domestic and social life and also in terms of space. Equally, bathing has a similar status in a large number of cultures – be it in the river, the lake, the sauna or a bathroom, as most of us will be familiar with. That is why I am convinced that private water may not be always entirely private. And that is why I try to define and illustrate nothing more than arguments that may increase the use and pleasure of being in the bathroom. Stay there a bit longer; experience the presence in time and space for more than one reason.

If a space in a building (or within a town, for that matter) serves one sole function only, it easily becomes vulnerable, closed-minded and in the end, possibly detrimental to the environment as a whole. For this reason I attempt to illustrate a way to make the bathroom more open-minded – to make it a conscious part of communal life in a private context, not privatised as a function. Hence from my point of view, the bathroom should be a place for life and for living.

 

Let me stress some aspects which each architect has in mind creating a building and apply them to the very particular space bathroom:

 

– Location in the Building: If a bathroom is intended just for washing, it can be anywhere in a building. By consciously positioning this space in a private home, its function and the usage may change completely. In fact, the location of a bathroom is a key issue in terms of relationships between various spaces – internally between rooms and functions as well as externally between building form and landscape.

– Form and Shape: If a space is more than just the provision of a function, forms and shapes may assist in the perception of all those things that cannot be measured. In spaces described by contrasts or by opposites – between order and disorder, light and darkness, straight line and curve – life tends to flourish. The shape and form of a space may reveal some of the irrational aspects of being close to water, emphasising or celebrating the elusive mystery of this particular element.

 

– Enclosure and Transparency: If a bathroom is more than just a hidden box in a left over space close to shafts and cores, enclosures and walls can be used as means of changing scenery. This is contrary to the traditional appearance of a bathroom, which is usually anything but flexible. Indeed, bathroom design is often described by the accurate and the finalised – changing lifestyles and family sizes are seldom reflected in the need for openness and enclosure.

 

– The Sequence of Privacy: If the bathroom is to have multiple uses, socially and functionally, it is vital to have a sequence from enclosed privacy to communal and openness.

 

In other words: The bathroom requires to be designed – this is a great challenge for architects, but also a huge opportunity to create spaces for life and for living. And this means that also the sanitation industry has to think spaces in order to develop design and space concepts for the bathroom far beyond the purely functional aspects.

 

Captions:
The backdrop version: This proposal illustrates in a diagrammatic way the sequence of privacy applied as a backdrop to a kitchen. The various principles can be applied in terms of location in the building, transparency, enclosure and form.

A free form can emphasise the various thoughts described above.