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Taiwan's toilets panned

By Vico Lee
STAFF REPORTER
Saturday, Oct 18, 2003, Page 16

Architects have come up with toilet designs that are easy to maintain and more use-friendly. PHOTO COURTESY OF YOU MING-GUO

Many tourists to famous tourist areas in Taiwan are impressed by the country's mountains and forests, lakes and beaches. But public toilets next to these delightful sightseeing spots are all too often unremarkable, or when they are remarkable, it's for their puddled floors and stinking stools.

At the three-day annual World Toilet Summit last week, hosted for the first time by the Taiwan Toilet Association (台灣衛浴文化協會), over 250 experts and architects from eight countries exchanged ideas and experiences on the design of tourist-area lavatories. With the Tourism Bureau's 2008 Doubling of Tourists Arrival Plan, the topic holds particular interest for architects in Taiwan.

"If the government wants to double the number of tourists to Taiwan, public toilets are the key, otherwise we'll see the number not doubled but halved," said Cheng Cheng-li (鄭政利), a director of the Taiwan Toilet Association.

Domestic travel reportage in the local media almost never mentioned toilets until recently, when Liao Wei-li's (廖偉立) seemingly in-the-air glass-and-steel design in Hsinchu's Tongyanshan Forest Park (東眼山森林遊樂區) and Wu Ming-hsiu's (吳明修) two solar-powered toilets with biotech composting device in Jade Mountain Ecology Park (玉山生態公園) attracted newspaper attention earlier this year. However, their innovative materials and eco-friendly designs are exceptions to the odorous tile-and-concrete norms.

"Most people do not like to talk about toilets. Traditionally, it's not a decent subject, but we have to talk about it to know how to improve toilet designs," Cheng said -- and to improve toilets is first of all to make them clean.

A raised roof provides ventilationfor the public toilet in the Yinghanlin Scenic Area on Guanyin Mountain.

"In tourist areas, public toilets leave a significant impression on tourists. However, the existing toilets are mostly not clean and odorless. Tourists go there only when they have no choice and rush out as quickly as possible. The most important thing at present is to have clean toilets."

The exterior of the toilets comes next. "The success of a toilet design does not rely on its appearance. When tourists actually use the facilities, they don't look at how pretty the exterior is. Their concern is more about whether it's bright enough or does it look safe," Cheng said.

Cheng cited Singapore's "Happy Toilet Program," a rating system imposed on all public toilets, to improve them. Taipei City Government currently runs a similar rating system, but its enforcement has not been tough enough.

"Sometimes, after a toilet wins the `smiling face mark' ... for its cleanliness, maintenance lapses after the government officials leave," Cheng said.

Wu, president of the Taiwan Toilet Association, made slight changes in regular toilets settings with his designs for three restroom buildings in Yangminshan Park to make maintenance easier. In the men's room, a row of windows is placed at eye level above the stools.

"Out of the window, you can see trees and flowers. People are naturally drawn to things outside the window, so that the urinating men will stand closer to the stool in order to look out at the trees. In doing so, they unknowingly come closer to the stool and therefore their urine does not drip outside. This then keeps the floor dry and easier to clean," Wu said.

The three newly-finished toilets are known for being "human friendly." They are fitted out with a variety of accessories for the family and handicapped users. Such toilets that everyone can use with ease are necessary for tourist spots, Wu said.

"If you really want to attract people to tourist areas, you need designs for the handicapped, so that they can enjoy outdoor activities like everyone else. Handicapped people are often discouraged from going sightseeing by the troublesome business of going to toilets."

Through a Japanese architect friend, who lost both legs in a car accident, Wu got to know the specific needs of wheelchair-bound people and used that knowledge in his designs.

"Toilets for wheelchair users are equipped with a pair of bars which users can hold onto when they remove their pants and sit on the stool, but the bars are often set either too close or too far apart, so handicapped users have to make a lot of effort to undress," Wu said. In order to solve the problem, Wu installed bars which are 70cm apart in the 2.2m by 2.2m "multifunctional toilets" on Yangmingshan. The wash stand is within arm's reach from the stool on one side. "Wheelchair users often have constipation because they sit all the time, so they have to use an enema, or even their fingers. The wash stand have to be within easy reach so they can wash their hands right after the procedure," Wu explained.

On the other side stands a disposal basin with a warm water outlet, for cleaning an artificial anus, or bladder, and the accompanying sanitary bags.

"The dining habits of people in Taiwan are not very healthy, so a large number of people developed illnesses and have an artificial anus. They are forced to stay home because they have to take care of the device from time to time. If the toilets allow them to perform these routines easily, they would be free to come outside to enjoy nature like healthy people."

You Ming Guo (游明國), another architect at the World Toilet Summit, said he found that most existing toilets undermine the appeal of tourist spots by being at odds with their surrounding scenery. His designs for new public toilets in Guanyin Mountain's Yinghanlin Scenic Area (觀音山硬漢嶺風景區) and on the Yanliao section of the Taiwan highway route 11, make toilets look like part of the restroom facilities there.

"Toilets in tourist areas can be more than toilets. They can be another idyllic spot where tourists rest their feet. At present, these toilets are stinky and dirty. Tourists want to stay as far away from them as possible," You said.

To change people's attitudes, You designed large window for ventilation and lighting, to get rid of odors. He also moved the wash stands, usually placed at the entrance, on the outside to prevent people crossing the entrance from stepping on a wet floor.

"Tourists want to use toilets which are as clean as those in their own house," You said.

You's design in Yanliao connects the toilet proper to a wooden arbor, where a bird's eye view of the surrounding hills is clear, to draw people closer to the its surrounding.

As the general consultant on scenery for the Interior Ministry's Construction and Planning Agency (營建署), You has seen numerous public toilets around the country, and he's disappointed by what he's found. "When you're in the city, you see tile-covered toilets. Then you go to scenic areas in the wilderness and you still see tiled toilets. I've had enough of tiles. Why can't they keep in harmony with nature?" You asked.

He suggested localizing tourist-area toilets.

"If the toilets are in Hualien, they can use the famous local marbles, if they are in a forest, they can use local timber. But 99 percent of the toilets look out of place with nature."

You attributed the uniformly staid toilet designs to the fact that architects do not gain as much recognition from designing toilets as from designing, say, shopping malls. Few architects in Taiwan, therefore, specialize in toilets.

To prepare for the 2008 Doubling of Tourists Arrival Plan, You agreed with Cheng that tourist-area toilets have to be clean first.

"They don't have to be like five-star hotels, they just need to be clean. They are part of the first impressions that tourists have of this country. They could even decide whether tourists consider Taiwan a civilized society," You said.
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