Japanese studio Tono Mirai Architects has used soil and wood to create Toiletowa, a curving structure in Saitama prefecture containing a public toilet that reuses wastewater.
Located in a park in the town of Miyoshi, the building has a wooden frame covered with rammed earth made with soil sourced from construction sites and mixed with hydrated lime.
Toiletowa has walls covered in rammed earth
Tono Mirai Architects aimed to create a building that exemplifies waste-free construction, working with engineering firm IS Engineering and industrial waste treatment company Ishizaka Corp to develop its rammed-earth walls.
The material covers the wooden frames of the two curving walls that enclose the public toilet, which is topped by a gently curving timber roof with skylights. It is located in a park in Miyoshi
"Two semicircular rammed-earth walls made of recycled earth placed in a staggered manner create a gentle movement and circulation within the forest, and the entire building acts as a well of light, connecting heaven and earth with light coming from the skylights," said the studio's founder Tono Mirai.
"A mixture of gypsum board and soil brought to Ishizaka Corp from demolished homes by house builders were separated and purified at the company's factory," he continued.
"Until now, it had only been used as a roadbed material for pavement, but this is the first time it has been used as a building material."
The toilet has a wooden structure
Mirai ex...