A PUBLIC CALLING

摘要

We need more public toilets now. We cannot rely on private businesses and the few-and-far-between public toilets in parks. A great city is only as great as its public toilets. This credo is even enshrined in a United Nations commitment made by our country in 2012: Canada recognizes the human right of everyone to safe drinking water and basic sanitation as essential to the right to an adequate standard of living. That is why we designed the Pop-Up Winnipeg Public Toilet. Although our Pop-Up toilet is a relatively low-cost pilot summer project, it offers a model for permanent facilities. The project's quirky design arose from a cross-sectoral partnership between our firm, Bridgman-Collaborative Architecture; the Downtown Winnipeg BIZ; and Siloam Mission, a local charity. The Pop-Up supports at-risk youth through Siloam Mission, which offers them employment as kiosk attendants. At the kiosk, the youth sell T-shirts, bottled water and newspapers, and offer orientation services to visitors. Such a people-centred approach is distinct from automated self-cleaning washrooms and technically-driven tactics.