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The Public Toilet: The Last Sex-Segregated Public Space

Part 1 Dissertation 2022
Lily Penelope Whitehouse
Mackintosh School of Architecture | UK
A predominant area of contemporary toilet politics is the gender-neutral toilet debate: a discussion often framed as a conflict between those wanting to protect female-only spaces and those who challenge binary classifications of gender. Through investigating the history, critical theories, research and political positions surrounding the public toilet, this dissertation attempts to reframe the issue from oppositional to a collective call for building regulation reform in order to improve safety in the public realm and toilet access for all.

This dissertation uses the multiple occupancy public toilet typology as an example, to examine the relationships between human bodies and designed spaces. Focus is on exploring why these spaces remain segregated by gender in Scottish building policy and the implication of this on the public. This is considered through a methodology of comparative case study analysis against critical theory.

The paper advocates for best practice design guidance based on evidence and critical research, clearly outlining, for the public, the reasons and methods of how to create multiuser gender-neutral toilets that resolve their concerns for safety and equal provision for everyone within society.


Tutor(s)
Florian Urban
2022
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