Public Privacy
(2025) AAHM01 20251Department of Architecture and Built Environment
- Abstract
- The meeting between public life in the city and our private bodily needs creates sensitive and complex architectural challenges, and public toilets are a clear example. They are often seen as merely practical and technical spaces, but they also reveal how a city thinks about accessibility, safety, and equality. How can these places meet basic needs while still feeling safe, clean, and welcoming? And what happens if we start to see these overlooked places as meaningful parts of the city?
Stockholm is currently facing a new situation regarding its public toilets. The city’s agreements with two toilet providers are expiring, which means that 81 of its 95 public toilets will be removed. Some will disappear entirely, others will be replaced.... (More) - The meeting between public life in the city and our private bodily needs creates sensitive and complex architectural challenges, and public toilets are a clear example. They are often seen as merely practical and technical spaces, but they also reveal how a city thinks about accessibility, safety, and equality. How can these places meet basic needs while still feeling safe, clean, and welcoming? And what happens if we start to see these overlooked places as meaningful parts of the city?
Stockholm is currently facing a new situation regarding its public toilets. The city’s agreements with two toilet providers are expiring, which means that 81 of its 95 public toilets will be removed. Some will disappear entirely, others will be replaced. This shift offers a unique opportunity to reconsider what a public toilet is, and what it could become.
Despite their modest scale, public toilets are complex sites where private actions meet social expectations. They are difficult to design and maintain, yet essential in everyday urban life. Should they remain limited to their basic function, or could they evolve into a more generous infrastructure that supports both physical and social needs?
The project explores these questions through architectural analysis and design. Spatial, material, and technical aspects are examined individually, leading to a set of design strategies that form the basis of a flexible modular system, developed for Odenplan, but adaptable to different sites and conditions across the city. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9218760
- author
- Laurell, Tova LU
- supervisor
- organization
- alternative title
- Offentlig privathet - Om offentliga toaletter och deras roll i Stockholms stadsrum
- course
- AAHM01 20251
- year
- 2025
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 9218760
- date added to LUP
- 2026-01-22 12:41:37
- date last changed
- 2026-01-22 12:41:37
@misc{9218760,
abstract = {{The meeting between public life in the city and our private bodily needs creates sensitive and complex architectural challenges, and public toilets are a clear example. They are often seen as merely practical and technical spaces, but they also reveal how a city thinks about accessibility, safety, and equality. How can these places meet basic needs while still feeling safe, clean, and welcoming? And what happens if we start to see these overlooked places as meaningful parts of the city?
Stockholm is currently facing a new situation regarding its public toilets. The city’s agreements with two toilet providers are expiring, which means that 81 of its 95 public toilets will be removed. Some will disappear entirely, others will be replaced. This shift offers a unique opportunity to reconsider what a public toilet is, and what it could become.
Despite their modest scale, public toilets are complex sites where private actions meet social expectations. They are difficult to design and maintain, yet essential in everyday urban life. Should they remain limited to their basic function, or could they evolve into a more generous infrastructure that supports both physical and social needs?
The project explores these questions through architectural analysis and design. Spatial, material, and technical aspects are examined individually, leading to a set of design strategies that form the basis of a flexible modular system, developed for Odenplan, but adaptable to different sites and conditions across the city.}},
author = {{Laurell, Tova}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Public Privacy}},
year = {{2025}},
}