Morning Reading | Qiu Suo: Public Toilet Plan in "Perfect Days"
2024-08-12
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"Perfect Days" introduced the cleanliness culture of Japanese toilets to the world.
While Wong Kar-wai's "Flowers" was a hit in Tokyo, director Wim Wenders' "Perfect Days" also sparked a lot of discussion in Tokyo. "Perfect Days" presented the famous public toilet plan in Shibuya, Tokyo.
The public toilet plan in Shibuya, Tokyo is extremely eye-catching. Many top international architectural designers, including Kengo Kuma, Tadao Ando, and Toyo Ito, led the design to create 17 public toilets that are like works of art that combine functionality, texture, technology, and creativity. Several of them are located in their daily living areas.
I visited the "Pavilion" designed by Tadao Ando right after it was completed. The center of the building is a barrier-free area, with men's and women's toilets on both sides. The wide-eaved dome with a metal texture gives people a sense of stability. Natural light shines through the outer wall fence into the inner corridor, and it looks like a pavilion from a distance. The one designed by Toyo Ito looks like three big mushrooms sleeping peacefully in the forest from a distance, giving users a sense of security.
The one designed by Kengo Kuma is based on the concept of "paths in the forest" and features a warm style. There are five independent cabins for barrier-free space, children, women and infants, the elderly, and changing rooms. Each cabin is covered with cedar boards of different sizes. The cabins are connected by sloping paths, perfectly integrated into the lush forest environment around them, creating a primitive beauty. In the forest, the public toilet composed of five primitive vertical cabins of different widths is like a small village. Walking through it is a bit like entering a small maze. The steps between the cabins are paved with soft small pieces of wood. The feet feel comfortable and gently cared for when they step on them. The "forest trail" has a red and yellow slide and a lovely swing frame. Next to it is a pool formed by underground springs, which is rare in Tokyo. There is a water wheel over a hundred years old in the pool, a fishing net next to the water wheel, and a longevity turtle next to the fishing net. There is such a fairyland-like forest trail public toilet.
In the Song Dynasty of China, toilets were elegantly called "Tingyu Pavilions". This place reminds me of the poetic description of toilets in Junichiro Tanizaki's "In Praise of Shadows". The owner of Kairakuen likes to build toilets in the trees with rich green shade, fragrant moss and charming textures. In the dim light, you can enjoy the light that penetrates slightly, indulge in meditation, and overlook the charm of the four seasons in the outdoor courtyard, and appreciate the charm of birdsong and insects, and the moonlit night. The most elegant place in Japanese buildings, which is magical and makes people feel at ease, is probably the toilet. I don't know if Kengo Kuma has read "In Praise of Shadows", but I can be sure that Kengo Kuma is a designer who combines "art and culture" in one frame.
I really want to see what the artistic public toilets in Shibuya look like in the movie, and want to know how Wenders presents "A Perfect Day" with Tokyo's Shibuya public toilets as the theme. I also want to know how veteran actor Koji Yakusho interprets the protagonist who treats toilet cleaning with an artistic attitude.
When I came out of the cinema, I saw the leading actor in the film driving a street sweeper and playing "Perfect Day" by rock singer Lou Reed. His acting was so vivid and appropriate that I realized that he deserved the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival.
"Fang Hua" introduced the Shanghai culture of China to the world; "Perfect Days" introduced the clean culture of Japanese toilets to the world.
Culture needs to be spread, and there is a methodology for spreading it. (Qiu Suo)
