Natural Necessities
Contemporary sanitaryware
explores the role of THE
OUTDOORS in health
and wellbeing.
Increasing concern for the environment meets
a growing awareness of the role of nature in
wellbeing, resulting in a range of new bathroom
designs that embody biophilia – a love of the
natural. As we become more convinced of the
merits of flexible living and the need for a lighter
ecological footprint, bathrooms become more
mobile and, in many cases, migrate to the outdoors.
Rooftop saunas and holiday ‘tower showers’exemplify the trend and show how it’s capturing
the imagination of designers and architects, while
outdoor showers bring mobility within easy reach
of the consumer. In line with natural living, new
conceptual bathroom products even reinstate
bacteria, giving the microorganisms a desirable
and useful role. Yesterday’s hyper hygienic
bathroom is assuming an earthier attitude.
Meanwhile, Nendo’s portable toilet is one
of many new designs responding to modern
realities by meeting the basic requirements of an
unstable population – a term that can be applied
to refugees, disaster victims and those who
deliberately choose to live off the grid. – JSLudovica+Roberto Palomba’s
outdoor shower for Kos combines
a no-frills design with optimal
functionality; the product includes a
large rain head and a joystick mixer.Easy to store, transport and construct, Nendo’s Minimlet is a
portable toilet designed for emergency situations; the kit consists
of six items, including an ‘enclosing tent screen’.Akihiro Yoshida164 REPORTS