Designed by Tokyo-based studio Klein Dytham Architecture, Gallery TOTO is a public toilet inside Narita International Airport that also functions as a showroom for Japanese bathroom brand TOTO.
The project is a unique collaboration between the Narita Airport Authority, which is upgrading the airport’s facilities in preparation for the 2020 Olympic, and TOTO, which celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2017.
The Gallery features a host of the latest digital technology including a fabric-like screens containing low resolution LED panels that transform each toilet exterior wall facing the public lounge space into a digital screen.
A series of moving silhouetted images by Japan’s legendary contemporary dance company Strange Kinoko suggest that dance parties to cleaning sequences are happening inside the toilet spaces.
“We also wanted to spark one’s imagination, something unexpected and instantly memorable; a key moment that people could take home with them – or share on social media when they are at the airport,” explained architect and studio co-founder Mark Dytham.
“When not illuminated the wall looks just like a textile and is very soft, like a shoji screen,” said the design team. “A LED panel would have given a hard, sharp image but here the low resolution digital image and tactile fabric provides an image that looks more like a soft shadow.”
The gallery also provides an innovative entertaining backdrop to the large waiting and relaxing passenger area directly in front of the gallery and planes as they draw up to nearby gates.
Each toilet space is fitted with individual digital indicators showing time elapsed in each space so those waiting can see at a glance which toilet is likely to be free first. Inside, extra large-sized panels of Hydrocera ceramic sheets are printed with large scale landscape images while each toilet showcases the very latest in washlet technology.
Gallery TOTO at Narita Airport Terminal 2 has won the prestigious Ministery of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation Award – for best Japanese Toilet.
all images and video courtesy of Klein Dytham Architecture