Recently I have been becoming more aware of these aspects of local art and design!
I have seen some outstanding public toilets around Auckland and they just add that extra zest to a place...be it in the around the CBD or even a local suburb like Mt.Eden. They can be designed beautifully and highly increase the visual aesthetics of an area. Who would have ever thought...toilets?!
Here is a great example of Iconic Public Toilets I found in Mt.Eden, Auckland one day, while I was on my way to a local cafe with a friend. It made the area pleasant to walk through and brightened up the entire facade on that side of the road. They were also located near a bus stop, adding increased amenity value.
Mt.Eden Public Iconic Toilets on Valley Road: Yahoo!Xtra 2011.
The toilets can be seen in context in the following picture, located around the corner from The Dominion Restaurant, on the right hand side...
Auckland Council 2011.
The iconic public toilets present people with a sense of place, through the art portrayed on them. In this case in Mt.Eden, the art was an image of the Mt.Eden summit, a well-known image in Auckland, created by mosaic colourful tiles. I thought it was absolutely stunning when I walked past it! It immediately drew my attention in a positive way.
Generally associated with being dirty and publicly exploited, a good way to increase the amenity value of public toilets is through fantastic design, and more importantly, local art. This not only increases the use of the toilets that we all pay for in an area, but iconic public toilets are a way to involve a community to create something that is unique to them and displays their identity. It can be used as a project for community development, or even be undertaken as a local school's task within certain areas.
Our class has been studying about a community called Te Hana in north Auckland, and assisting them in various ways to help develop their community into a tourist attraction. One of the ways in which we could do this was to develop iconic public toilets for tourists to stop at. They make a local area memorable and there are chances of people coming back to visit again.
Iconic public toilets are a way and opportunity to display public art! And who doesn't want to see more of that around Auckland???
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