Japan is known for its hightech toilets and obsession with the bathroom. Now Japanese designer Daigo Ishii + Future-scape Architects have teamed up to create ‘The House of Toilet,’ a public restroom in Ibukishima, Japan, that aims to celebrate the distinct character of the community and region. Made with polycarbonate sheeting and burnt wood siding (called shou-sugi-ban, the Japanese practice of seasoning wood to make it pest- and fi re-resistant), the angular scheme looks like some modernist exercise in randomness. But the design is actually divided into six different sections, each of which is cut in an angled fashion. The design is conceived of as an architectural compass, with each of these cuts aligning to a major urban center on each continent, save Antarctica — thus anchoring this remote island’s public restroom to the rest of the planet.
Biogas Bike
Never dreamed poop could get you blazing down the asphalt? Well, now it all comes true as Japan’s biggest toilet maker, TOTO, takes the toilet on the road with its launch of the Toilet Bike Neo, a bike that’s powered entirely by human waste. The bike runs on biogas converted from feces that is harvested directly from the driver — who sits on the bike’s toiletstyled seat. It gives a new twist to “poop as you go,” but that’s not the only quirky innovation that this bike will feature. According to Spoon & Tamago:
Toilet Bike Neo is also equipped with some other cool functions. It uses residual light imagery to write messages in the air as it zooms. It can also play music to entertain spectators. Finally, the toilet actually talks. This is a technology that TOTO has been equipping many of their new toilets with.
It’s not clear, though, whether the bike’s driver will defecate in private or not in order to provide fuel. Nevertheless, keep your eyes peeled: as an alternative source of fuel, the energy offered by human waste is great enough that it’s been called the “new coal.” http://www.treehugger.com/culture/the-hot-poop-onalternative- toilets.html
