The city of Portland, OR has taken the outdoor, public restroom to the next level. As most people who have used public restrooms of any sort can attest, most have been vandalized in some way or another. Whether that means graffiti on the walls, smashed mirrors, or various other items being destroyed public restrooms commonly come under attack. Because of this the city of Portland, OR decided to design a public restroom that was more or less impervious to vandalism by removing most of the modern frills. The city has patented the design and is currently in the process of selling these restrooms to other municipalities.
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Now that is certainly a way to combat the vandalism that is commonly seen. It is a great example of how using the "KISS" (keep it simple stupid) design method can have large benefits. Now the question is, how will the city of Portland market their product or will they just let other municipalities come to them? I suppose it could be a product that "sells it self" so to speak, however, it would be beneficial for them to explore other markets (perhaps international).
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, the article doesn't really get into a lot of detail about whether or not Portland is actively marketing these. It does mention that they sold some to Victoria, British Columbia.
ReplyDeleteI love it! There is always a way to engineer around idiots. It's not bad looking, either, considering all the misuse they were trying to prevent.
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