Paruresis

So you’re walking down a street in Switzerland, and you need to use a public toilet. From the outside, it’s mirrored because it’s made of one-way glass.
Swiss Public Toilet, Outside View

From the inside, it appears like this.
Swiss Public Toilet, Inside View

Do you stop and use the facilities, or do you look for something… less exposed?

11 thoughts on “Paruresis

  1. Mike, I had to look up the meaning of the title. I’m impressed, but can still pee in the presence of strangers. I have always had a desire to place a window just above a urinal so men could have a view when attending to nature. This was inspired by a restroom in a house I stayed at in Assisi. The bathroom looked out over the valley, built right at the outside of the city walls. I’m sure it is some kind of Freudian problem I have…..One day I’ll design a restroom like that, now, the problem is how to allow the fairer sex to have the same experience. As for this design, I think that it hints at a larger problem with the Swiss mind. (Read this in a John Wayne voice dripping with American self-righteousness). Ciao.

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  2. is this place really in Switzerland? I live in Switzerland and I’m not aware of it. I only found out about it when I got an email with the exact same pictures you have on the site. Does anyone know where in Switzerland? please, I’m very curious.
    Thanks.

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  3. The signs on the building across the street appear to be a convention center of some sort. I don’t know if that’s any help. Sorry, I didn’t get a street location.

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