Bathrooms

3/05/2022, h. 14:30
Politecnico di Milano, Campus Leonardo, Edificio 11, AULA R.1
Piattaforma Webex

The Restroom Pavilion / Your Restroom Is a Battleground
Ciclo “Why is living in Milan so exhausting?”

“Bathroom” is the third lecture in the cycle linked to the Architectural Design Studio “Why is Living in Milan so Exhausting?”, after Corridors (with Davide Rapp) and Rooms (with Fosbury Architecture). The traditional elements of the house typology are deconstructed thanks to the research of the authors/researchers.
“Restrooms are often described as neutral facilities or mere utilitarian infrastructures catering to the universal needs of individuals. But they are contested spaces that are shaped by and in turn shape the ways bodies and communities come together. Restrooms are architectures where gender, religion, race, ability, hygiene, health, environmental concerns, and the economy are defined culturally and articulated materially. In the last years, the climate crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic, and growing tensions derived from population displacements have made these entanglements more evident. Restrooms are not an isolated design problem but rather symptoms of larger disputes that can be mediated through architectural tools. Restrooms are political architectures, they are battlegrounds”.
Matilde Cassani and Iván L. Munuera talk about the (double) project “The Restroom Pavilion” and “Your Restroom Is a Battleground”, held at the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2020.

Relatori: Matilde Cassani, Iván L. Munuera

Responsabile: Nina Bassoli