A public toilet of an isolated island, Ibukijima Island of Setouchi Inner Sea. It was one of artworks in Art Setouchi Triennale 2013 and the municipality asked for the novelty to call visitors as a tourist attraction and revitalize the island.
Periphery / Center
In a traditional local house in Ibukijima Island, a toilet is mostly established in a small cottage separated from the main house. In Ibukijima Island, a toilet is a peripheral space that is repelled and excluded from the main house. The relation between the main house and the separated cottage resembles the relation between the main land and an isolated island or between a big city and a remote district. Now, Ibukijima island is only connected with a small liner from Kanonji city of the main land, and the small isolated island serves as a periphery in Japan. “House of Toilet” intends to change a peripheral space into the center to give intensity to the island regarded as a periphery in Japan. When toilets repelled from the main house gather, nestle up to one and form a house, it comes to have the power as a core.
Localization on time and space :
11 slits of light pass through the building. Time peculiar to Ibukijima Island and the relation with the world centering on Ibukijima Island was overlaid.
5 slits of light are established according to the solar orientation at 9:00 a.m on the day when three traditional ceremonies are held and the day of the summer solstice and the winter solstice. When the ray of sunlight passes in the house at 9:00 a.m once per year, the locals know the visit of the season. Those show the coordinates of the island on time.
6 slits of light indicate the direction from the island to the major cities of 6 continents (Tokyo, London, Nairobi, New York, San Paulo, Sydney). Those show a connection of the island and the world and the coordinates of the island on space. The place where the axis of these six slits crosses is the coordinates point that indicates the position of Ibukijima island, so, the relation with the world is also the locality itself. Locals understand that the island regarded as a periphery is the center of the world and each one is the center.
This coordinates mechanism localizes Ibukijima island.
Reflection of landscape :
The detail and finish reflect the landscape of the island. Those suggest the island's locality to visitors and makes re-conscious of the island's identity to locals.
The roof's inclination and the exterior color resemble a local house. The alley between 3 buildings reflects that of the island like a maze and the motif of the alley's wall is a black burnt cedar board as a local finish, producing a delicate difference by a polycarbonate sheet covering the surface. The opening on a booth's ceiling which natural light and rain pass reflects a local well that had collected rainwater that supported the island for a living until a public water system was completed 30 years ago. At the recesses of the architecture, this watering architecture connects with the island’s memory on water through the opening.
Material Used :
1. Facade and Roof : Hamanetsu Morenoux Construction Method (Special technique of FRP)
2. Exterior wall of the Alley : Structural Plywood Plate + Oil Stain Paint + Poly-Carbonate Plate
3. Floor : exposed rein-forced concrete
4. Interior wall and ceiling : Structural Plywood Plate + Oil Stain Paint + Poly-Carbonate Plate
5.Floor of the Closet-Bowl Booth : white gravel
