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Restroom Archive

restroomarchive.com

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Re: Restroom Archive

#81

Post by jakzurr »

arjie wrote: post #22
keiferski wrote: post #15

Public bathrooms are such an interesting public services issue. In some places it’s totally normal to pay a small fee, and in return you (usually) get a clean space. In other places, the idea of paying to use the bathroom is considered an offense against the public. Years ago when I was in New York often, I had the idea to make a paid bathroom app, with a bit of a luxury twist. You’d pay $30 or whatever a month to ha…

I thought this sort of thing was what CEPTIA successfully campaigned against? Also, what is the public commons that's being eroded in this scenario? Public toilets are few and far between but also kind of don't seem like a commons. I'd imagine a commons is something like a fishery or something. Pretty easy to control access to toilets. They have doors and as most European countries have proven, you can charge for the…

In 1974 (about) I was at a Greyhound terminal in NY City. The large, attended restroom was almost all pay stalls, except for one free stall, and I really did not want to use that one.

Re: Restroom Archive

#82

Post by procflora »

arjie wrote: post #22
keiferski wrote: post #15

Public bathrooms are such an interesting public services issue. In some places it’s totally normal to pay a small fee, and in return you (usually) get a clean space. In other places, the idea of paying to use the bathroom is considered an offense against the public. Years ago when I was in New York often, I had the idea to make a paid bathroom app, with a bit of a luxury twist. You’d pay $30 or whatever a month to ha…

I thought this sort of thing was what CEPTIA successfully campaigned against? Also, what is the public commons that's being eroded in this scenario? Public toilets are few and far between but also kind of don't seem like a commons. I'd imagine a commons is something like a fishery or something. Pretty easy to control access to toilets. They have doors and as most European countries have proven, you can charge for the…

My friend, handling the waste of all the people that live in a city is one of the most basic examples of the public commons I can imagine lol. What are you talking about?? It is a bit fundamental to the concept of a city!

Re: Restroom Archive

#83

Post by kansface »

imglorp wrote: post #79
keiferski wrote: post #15

Public bathrooms are such an interesting public services issue. In some places it’s totally normal to pay a small fee, and in return you (usually) get a clean space. In other places, the idea of paying to use the bathroom is considered an offense against the public. Years ago when I was in New York often, I had the idea to make a paid bathroom app, with a bit of a luxury twist. You’d pay $30 or whatever a month to ha…

And by corollary, a town with no public bathrooms is ignoring realities, ie the needs and comfort of the public. It's a signal: the question in those places is, what else are they willfully ignoring, what other responsibilities are they dodging?

It’s more like addressing reality has no viable political solution.

Re: Restroom Archive

#84

Post by furyofantares »

My kid has a major fear of restrooms. I wonder if we can use this site as exposure therapy or if it will only be more fear inducing given how tiny and messy most of them are, plus the messiness of 3D capture artifacts.

Re: Restroom Archive

#85

Post by gaudystead »

jakewelch wrote: post #52

Hey this is my project. Thanks for sharing

Cool project! I wanted to make something similar, but for archiving bathroom graffiti! Yours is a better implementation than I would've accomplished though, so I'm glad you did it!

What was your original goal(s) for the effort?

Re: Restroom Archive

#86

Post by stronglikedan »

v9v wrote: post #5

https://restroomarchive.com/r/2026-08-29-grand-army-plaza-au... > has a countdown timer above warning visitors that the door will auto-open in x amount of time. A toilet that has a door with a countdown seems like the most stress-inducing thing ever.

> A toilet that has a door with a countdown seems like the most stress-inducing thing ever.

It would be more stressful to the people who are standing there watching me finish my shit than it would be to me, I guarantee.

Re: Restroom Archive

#89

Post by keiferski »

embedding-shape wrote: post #27
Doohickey-d wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's quite common in Europe. Usually you get 15 minutes which seems fairly generous.

"Quite common"? I've spent more than 3 decades here, visited most of the countries on the western side, both north and south (although embarrassingly little eastern parts), and have not seen this once in my life. Thinking about it, I haven't seen this anywhere in the world.

The fact that you haven’t been in central or Eastern Europe might be the key.

I haven’t seen an actual countdown timer, but many of the public toilets in Poland have time limits that are displayed on a sign, and announced by the computer voice loudspeaker. Usually it’s 30 minutes though IIRC.

Re: Restroom Archive

#90

Post by aa-jv »

jakzurr wrote: post #77
aa-jv wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've seen them in some of the shadier parks in the Netherlands, Italy and Austria. Yppenplatz, Vienna, has a particularly nasty (smelling) one which the countdown clock does very little to obviate.

A really nasty smell would get me out fast. Can't imagine any use for the timer, unless you're trying to estimate the remaining oxygen.

The timer is to let the junkie know how much privacy they have left before they can be discovered in the act of shooting up.
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