artstallTORONTO

Submission 80988

Streetcar Route

Subway

Intersection Pedestrian Volume (Persons)

10000-15000

15000-20000

20000-24677

7862-10000

Enter ArtStall Toronto. This program would use percent for public art funds to address Toronto’s ongoing lack of public washroom facilities, improving access to the city for residents and tourists. By applying locally-designed artistic skins to the exteriors of the “Portland Loo” – a recently developed public toilet winning praise for its indestructibility, ease of maintenance and low cost – Toronto can take a step toward creating more inclusive, beautiful and dignified streets. Both public art and public toilets can be controversial. However, merging the two might actually help to address concerns with both. Innovative artwork will elevate the public toilet, de-stigmatizing it and turning it from unwanted and neglected facilities into dignified pieces of civic infrastructure worthy of artistic embellishment. Applying artistic creativity to a functional and even iconic public toilet could help to confront utilitarian critiques of art in the city.

On a recent CBC broadcast, a pundit argued that Toronto needs a “Percent for Public Toilets” program more than one collecting a “Percent for Public Art.” He complained that the city is awash with sculpture and suggested that Toronto should instead spend developer’s contributions for streetscape improvements on tackling the city’s glaring lack of public toilets. But why can’t we combine the two? Toronto’s Percent for Public Art policy encourages both stand-alone artistic works and the artistic treatment of functional civic infrastructure.

Percent for Public Art ProgrAm

Percent for ArtStAll

80%Capital

25%Capital

10%Admin

10%Admin

10%Maintenance

65%Maintenance

enDowMent

executive summaryArtStall Toronto is a unique creative place-making project that provides durable, accessible standardized public toilets that are also aesthetically pleasing, decorated in collaboration with local artists to enhance the character of Toronto’s streets, while addressing perceived problems with both public art and public toilets.

Submission 80988

Streetcar Route

Subway

Intersection Pedestrian Volume (Persons)

10000-15000

15000-20000

20000-24677

7862-10000

ADminiStrAtion: $15,000

mAintenAnce enDowment: $371,000-465,000

cAPitAl: $90,000 -$110,000

Ultimately, City policy argues that public art fosters our sense of place and belonging. ArtStall Toronto could achieve this both by prominently showcasing local art and giving people reliable access to the washrooms they need to comfortably make use of the city’s streets. Despite trends toward increased use of downtown public space and Toronto’s growing position as a tourist destination, public toilets remain an awkward unmet need in the city. Astral Media constructed two automatic pay toilets on the waterfront before funding earmarked for twenty washrooms throughout the city was re-directed to Toronto’s ailing bike share program in 2013. Since then little progress has been made in providing public toilets outside of parks and civic centres, accessible at all hours of the day.

Public toilets can play a key role in how and if families with small children, older people and people disabilities and medical conditions get out and about in the city. As recent research by the University of Toronto’s Cities Centre suggests, because public toilets are often negatively perceived, they can be politically difficult to build or maintain. More public conversations and advocacy are needed. In this spirit, our eye-catching, artist-enhanced public toilets could make this issue more visible in Toronto, doing what good art does best: challenging conventional notions of how we organize and build our community, sparking questions of whether there isn’t a better, more humane way of building our city.

Submission 80988

3

word count: 1918

submission: 80988

4the issue

Criticized as sources of blight, vandalism, and socially unacceptable activities, Toronto’s last few public toilets closed in the late 1980s. Since then, Toronto has made several attempts to remedy the situation. In 2007, the city signed a contract with Astral Media that would have provided the City with 20 automated public toilets over 20 years. This contract, however, ended abruptly in 2013. Following the installation of two toilets (one in Queens Quay and one in the Beaches), the project funds were transferred to save the Bixi bikeshare program (Dale, 2013). In an attempt to guarantee the right of access to washroom facilities, Toronto City Council amended the Property Standard By-law (Municipal Code Chapter 629) to require that washroom facilities be provided to the public in retail establishments (City of Toronto, 2009) (The Health Protection and Promotion Act already ensures washroom facility standards for food establishments).

While these are all steps in the right direction, the problem remains: outside of parks and civic centres, there are no free, 24h, accessible, safe, legal, nor convenient washroom facilities currently within the City of Toronto. A report released by the University of Toronto City Centre suggests that Toronto is lagging behind other major global cities for providing public toilets (Solomon, 2013).

Often taken for granted, toilets are a basic human need. For many, their absence is a primary obstacle to enjoying and feeling comfortable in Toronto’s built environment. For the elderly, families with young children, pregnant women, homeless populations, and those with medical conditions and accessibility issues, the right to access washroom facilities is particularly pressing as many are left waiting in line at the local Tim Hortons.

Unlike public toilets, public art has received considerable attention and investment. Often caricatured as contorted metal adornments to new condos and criticized for being produced by artists in distant locales, the installation of public art in Toronto is a contentious process, especially when such essentials as public washrooms go unfunded.

COMMON CRITICISMS OF PUBLIC ART:

• COSTLY• USELESSMETALCONTORTIONS• LOWPRIORITYWHENMOREESSENTIAL AMENITIESGOUNFUNDED• PRODUCEDBYDISTANTARTISTSWITH LITTLECLEARRELATIONTOPLACE

COMMON CRITICISMS OF PUBLIC TOILETS:

• OFTENVANDALIZED• SITESOFDRUGUSE,SEX,ANDOTHER ILLICITACTIVITY• CLEANLINESSPROBLEMSAND PERCEIVEDICKINESS• BRINGDOWNPROPERTYVALUESDUE TOPOORPERCEPTION

IMAGE PROBLEMS:

5 what’s at stake?

• Public washrooms are an economic asset, allowing people of all ages and ability to spend more time in the city.

• Public toilets relieve strain on private businesses and public facilities such as libraries.

• Toilets are a basic human need

• Lack of toilet access a major barrier to enjoyment of city for the elderly, people with medical conditions, pregnant women, parents with children, homeless people.

• Private facilities often not an alternative for homeless, parents with strollers, people with disabilities.

• For aging population, people with physical and mental health challenges, reliable public toilet access can make difference between going out and confinement at home.

• UK research shows that public toilets are a missing link in increasing transit ridership (Bichard, Hanson & Greed, 2013).

• Lack of public toilets constrains how long people can be away from home and what mode they use to move around

• Accessible public toilets are needed near major transit routes and interchanges.

• Public urination and defecation are public health risks and add to municipal cleanup service costs.

• In this 24-hour city, ArtStalls could reduce late-night public urination and preserve the urban environment for all.

• ArtStalls would support tourist economy growth, making the city more user-friendly and accessible.

• Lack of restroom facilities impacts reputation as a tourist destination.

• Tripadvisor pleas for tips on where to pee and websites such as “Airpnp” show public restroom availability is a widespread tourist concern.

• ArtStalls will function as local tourist icons like New Zealand’s Hundertwasser Toilets.

• ArtStalls will provide local artists with project income and exposure.

• Artwork linked to neighbourhood character and place-making can enhance neighbourhood identity.

• Public toilets are often stigmatized and politically difficult to build. By using art to normalize public toilet use, Toronto will showcase our municipal creativity.

LOCAL ECONOMY

EQUITY &ACCESS

TOURIST ECONOMY

TRANSIT RIDERSHIP

CLEAN & BEAUTIFULSTREETS

CULTURAL ECONOMY

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the solution: artstall

you know how that shit go.

ArtStall Toronto boldly challenges the assumption that public art is useless. Drawing on Percent for Public Art contributions (secured during the City’s redevelopment through Section 37 contributions, minor variances and plans of subdivision or severance), ArtStalls will add character and identity to Toronto’s streets while simultaneously providing essential public toilet infrastructure.

ArtStall Toronto will commission local artists to decorate the exteriors of a series of “Portland Loos”— a proven accessible, compact, durable and low-cost public toilet developed after extensive research by the City of Portland— with unique designs reinforcing the character of the bustling streets and transit interchanges where public washrooms are needed the most.

These highly visible and playful facilities will facilitate the enjoyment of public space, delighting—and relieving—residents and visitors alike. The use of public art will reduce the stigma associated with public toilets and boost residents’ and visitors’ perceptions of our city’s public facilities.

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Worldwide, there are numerous examples of artists and designers using toilets to create inviting, unusual places. The Hundertwasser Toilets in Kawakawa, New Zealand, designed by celebrated Austrian artist Friedrich Hundertwasser, are imaginative ceramic structures with glass-bottle windows and quirky tufts of grass growing on the roof. Starchitect Rem Koolhaas has not been above the lowly water closet, designing facilities in Groningen, Netherlands that bring both human dignity and aesthetic interest to the street. Outside London’s Tate Britain gallery, artist Monica Bonvicini has installed a toilet made of one way glass (users can see the world outside, but no one can see in), turning a washroom into a piece of interactive art that challenges users’ deeply ingrained notions of privacy and embarrassment.

precedents

Don't Miss a Sec (2004), Tate Modern, London,UK by Monica Bonvicini

The Hundertwasser Toilets, Kawakawa, NZ. by Friederich Hundertwasser

SUPER AND POPULAR Public Toilet, Groningen, Netherlands by Rem Koolhaas

Pissoire, Kreuzberg, Berlin

Pissoire, Kreuzberg, Berlin Kumutoto Toilets, Wellington, NZ by NZIA

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hand-washdrain

exterior hand-wash fixture

6 ft.

10. 7 ft.

9

solar panels

skylight

angled slats$90-110,000 per unit (depending on features). Easy-to-clean design contributes to low annual maintenance cost of roughly $16,000 per unit.City service personnel, who maintain the existing Automatic Pay Toilets, will service the unit— with additional maintenance costs being provided for by the maintenance endowment.

Artist-designed skins will be applied to this innovative public toilet design.

Low-cost

Space-Efficient

Durable

Minimizes Risk

Fits in a single parking spot— key in Toronto where locating public toilets on narrow, busy right-of-ways has been identified as a major challenge to their provision in the city’s densest neighbourhoods.

Heavy stainless steel walls, doors and ventilation grills designed to prevent vandalism and misuse. Designed for all season operations and used from California and Alaska.

Unit designed with Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design: Louvers at the bottom of the toilet allow for community surveillance while maintaining the visual privacy of the user.

Relative openness and location in high-traffic areas enables users to call for help if needed, and deters illegal activitities.

paintable/tileable steel

panels

logo

fits in typical parking spot

gender-neutral, accessible design

accommodates stroller, wheelchair, or

bike

the“Portland Loo” design

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Streetcar Route

Subway

Intersection Pedestrian Volume (Persons)

10000-15000

15000-20000

20000-24677

7862-10000

Six initial Artstalls should be located in highly visible areas of Toronto with high pedestrian volumes, making them easy to find and safe to use. Because of the role public toilets can play in facilitating transit ridership, they should be situated near key public transportation routes.

Source: City of Toronto Open Data

Bloor

Spadina

University

Church

Bathurst

College

Dundas

Queen

King

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Streetcar Route

Subway

Intersection Pedestrian Volume (Persons)

10000-15000

15000-20000

20000-24677

7862-10000

implementation

PERCENT FOR PUBLIC ART PROGRAM

EVALUATION

PERCENT FORARTSTALL

80%CAPITAL

25%CAPITAL

10%ADMIN

10%ADMIN

10%MAINTENANCE

65%MAINTENANCE

ENDOWMENT

This scheme reimagines the typical public art financing system. Currently, the city recommends that 80% of public art contributions go to art costs, while 10% each goes to administration and maintenance endowments. Here, cleanliness is key, so a larger proportion of funds will need to go toward the maintenance endowment for a public toilet.

Together, the initial capital expenditure; the cost of installation and administration; and the establishment of a cleaning and maintenance endowment will be between $370 000 and $460 000 (see Appendix for estimates). In this scheme, 65% of funding would go toward the maintenance endowment, 25% to capital costs (inclusive of toilet unit and artwork), and 10% to administration and installation.

Like the current Percent for Public Art Program funding scheme, prices will vary based on developments and proposed artwork. Should the City choose to draw upon alternative maintenance funds, the maintenance endowment would amount to much less of the total project cost.

All in all, costs need not exceed the currently recommended 1% of a development’s gross construction cost for public art. In large-scale developments, public art contributions have often ranged from $500,000 to one million dollars. Investment in ArtStall Toronto would bring invaluable returns in terms of comfortable access to the city for all residents and visitors while beautifying Toronto’s streetscapes.

Audits should be conducted to determine the functioning of the toilets such as cleanliness and people counts to account for use. If these audits find that a toilet is unsustainable, a public consultation should be required to determine whether the community wishes it to close. Public toilets are community assets; accordingly, the community must decide whether the toilet is to close.

ADMINISTRATION: $15,000

MAINTENANCE ENDOWMENT: $371,000-465,000

CAPITAL: $90,000 -$110,000

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bibliographyBateman, C. (2014, July 9). What happened to all the public washrooms in Toronto? Spacing. Retrieved from http://spacing.ca/toronto/2014/07/09/happened-public-washrooms-toronto/

Bichard, J.-A., Hanson, J., & Greed, C. (2013). Access to the built environment/barriers, chains and missing links. University College London, London, England.

CBC News. (2012, November 6). Victoria loo voted best in Canada. Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/victoria-loo-voted-best-in-canada-1.1268246

City of Portland. (2015). The Portland Loo. https://www.portlandoregon.gov/parks/?c=59293

City of Toronto. (2015). Park bylaws. Retrieved from http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/contentonly?vgnex-toid=f57d9fba60ca7410VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD&vgnextchannel=5c98dada600f0410VgnVCM10000071d-60f89RCRD

City of Toronto. (2013). Signalized intersection traffic and pedestrian volume. Open Data. Retrieved from http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/contentonly?vgnextoid=417aed3c99cc7310VgnVCM1000003dd60f89RCRD

City of Toronto. (2010). Percent for Public Art Program Guidelines. Retrieved fromhttps://www1.toronto.ca/city_of_toronto/city_planning/urban_design/files/pdf/publicart_udg_aug2010.pdf

City of Toronto. (2009). Staff Report: Amendments to Toronto Municipal Code Chapter 629, Property Stan-dards-Washrooms within Mercantile Occupancies. Retrieved from http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2009/ls/bgrd/backgroundfile-20762.pdf

Citylab. Why Portland’s public toilets succeeded where others failed. http://www.citylab.com/design/2012/01/why-portlands-public-toilets-succeeded-where-others-failed/1020/

Dale, D. (2013, July 2). “Bixi: Trading $450,000 toilets for bikes? Toronto discusses unique plan to save bike share company.”,The Toronto Star. Retrieved from http://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2013/07/02/bixi_trading_450000_toilets_for_bikes_toronto_discusses_unique_plan_to_save_bike_share_company.html

MacDonald, G. (2013). Toilet trouble: City lacks public washroom policy. Novae Res Urbis, Toronto Edition 17 (25) pp.1,3.

Portland Loo/Madden Fabrications. (2015). The Portland Loo. http://theloo.biz/Solomon, R.C. (2013). A comparative policy analysis of public toilet provision in North American cities: Rec-ommendations for the creation of a public toilet strategy in Toronto. Cities Centre, University of Toronto. Retrieved from http://www.citiescentre.utoronto.ca/

Washington, K.M. (2014). Go before you go: How public toilets impact public transit usage. PSU McNair Schol-ars Online Journal 8(1). Retrieved from pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/mcnair/vol8/iss1/5/

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photo creditsArt Stalls:

Original photo of Portland Loo by Kevin Christopher Burke via flickr, Creative Commons (CC)

Graffiti by KWEST, photograph by Tiws via flickr, CC

Painted ArtStall adaptation of Singender Dampfer in Ultramarin III by Friedrich Hundertwasser, 1959

John Tory photograph by Alex Guibord via flickr, CC, collage by the authors.

Railroad photograph by the authors.

Dragon street art photograph by mpok69 via Deviantart, CC

Raccoon street art photograph by wiredforlego via flickr, CC

Owl design is an imagined collaboration between artstall and Drake’s OVO brand, meant to illustrate our intent to collaborate with Toronto artists of both local and international stature. We do not claim any ownership of the image used.

Precedents:

SUPER AND POPULAR Public Toilet, Groningen, Netherlands by Rem Koolhaas via wikimedia commons, CCPissoire, Kreuzberg, Berlin photograph by authors.

Don’t Miss a Sec (2004), Tate Modern, London,UK by Monica Bonvicini photography by via www.hexjam.com.

Pissoire, Kreuzberg, Berlin photograph by authors.

The Hundertwasser Toilets, Kawakawa, NZ. by Frederick Hundertwasser photograph by Danny Birchall via flickr, CC

Kumutoto Toilets, Wellington, NZ by NZIA photograph by russellstreet via flickr, CC

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appendix

Low HighNotes

Toilet purchase 90000 110000 Depends on features

Artist pay1000 5000

Depends on design complexity and public art contributions

Tota Capital 91000 115000

Administration/Installation 40000 50000

Annual Maintenance cost 12000 15000Maintenance endowment fund required 240000 300000

Assuming 5% return on investment

Total Cost per unit 371000 465000% maintenance endowment 65 65% capital 25 25% admin/installation 10 10

Estimated cost for 6 Pilot toilets 2226000 2790000

ARTSTALL COST ESTIMATES (Per unit)

16 Submission 80988

artstallTORONTO