streetwear designer NIGO completes tokyo toilet as a friendly place in harajuku

in the bustling harajuku district, street wear designer NIGO completes the eighth tiny restroom of the tokyo toilet project. standing quietly between its towering neighbors, the little restroom occupies the corner of jingumae 1-chome. simply expressed with a shingled, gable roof, the structure suggests a traditional american dwelling to contrast the urban context. more specifically, NIGO took inspiration from the washington heights dependent housing, a large housing complex built in the japanese city by the US in 1946. the development marked a significant impact on harajuku’s growth and had greatly influenced the post-war lifestyle changes in tokyo. while NIGO had been raised in harajuku, he sought to learn from the history of the neighborhood and duplicate the dwellings that have long begun to disappear. 

 

 

 

 

 

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NIGO‘s jingumae public restroom for the tokyo toilet project is designed as a friendly intervention into the urban district. casual and inviting, the traditional dwelling type expression is punctuated by white picket fence and a front door that appears to be forever open. upon entry, the interior is simple and comfortable while the high ceiling expresses the triangular gabled roof structure. the little restroom marks the eighth of seventeen toilets being realized by the nippon foundation.

images by ken nagare | courtesy of the nippon foundation