To elevate the public washroom as a collective community asset (and to show how this can be done in an artful and fun way), the Toronto Public Space Committee has launched a global design competition to design the Toronto toilet of the future!
This global initiative is meant to raise awareness about the lack of accessible public washroom access in Toronto and look at innovative ways to incorporate public washrooms into the public realm. So, designers, architects, urban planners, and creative thinkers from around the world are being invited to reimagine the future of public washrooms.
“Despite the necessity of public washrooms, Toronto has a severe shortage, leaving many residents—particularly unhoused individuals, gig workers, families, and people with disabilities—without access to this fundamental urban infrastructure,” the competition notes state. “This competition seeks bold ideas that integrate spatial justice, accessibility, sustainability, and cultural inclusion into the design of a multi-user washroom hub and single-user washroom, adaptable to different locations throughout the city.”
Participants are being asked to design a network of public washrooms for the City of Toronto that include the following:
1) One single-user toilet for a single-use washroom — this is meant to be an individual private space that contains one toilet only (it has to be designed in a way that the model could be distributed throughout the neighbourhood at convenient locations).
2) A multi-user washroom for the Dufferin–King Parkette — this is a larger sanitation hub to be nestled in the Dufferin–King Parkette, but the prototype should also be transferable across city parks.
“We have chosen a neighbourhood as a site for your design, but these washrooms should be flexible enough to be sited across a large diverse city, from urban to suburban centres,” the contest notes add.
Anyone from across the globe can apply until May 27 although all entries must be in English. There’s a non-refundable $25 entry fee to participate, but if you enter early, you only pay $15 until March 27!
The top three competition winners will receive a cash award (with first place receiving $1,500). Their work also be published in Toronto’s Spacing Magazine and showcased along with selected entries in a public exhibition in Toronto this July.
Click here for more info and the full list of submission requirements.
