Mobile Hygiene Infrastructure for Seasonal Agricultural Workers

Field Care Node is a mobile sanitation module designed for seasonal agricultural worker settlements where permanent water and sewage infrastructure is absent, insufficient, or unable to respond to temporary population growth during harvest periods. The project addresses a repeated condition in agricultural landscapes: workers live close to fields and greenhouses, yet remain distant from safe, clean, and reliable sanitation facilities. Instead of treating the toilet as a secondary technical object, Field Care Node frames sanitation as an architectural act of care, visibility, dignity, and infrastructure.

The project focuses on three agricultural regions: Huelva in Spain, Foggia in Italy, and Çukurova in Türkiye. These places differ in climate, crop type, labour patterns, and settlement character. Huelva is shaped by greenhouse and intensive agricultural production; Foggia represents open-field tomato landscapes in southern Italy; and Çukurova is defined by hot plain agriculture in southern Türkiye. Despite these differences, they reveal the same problem: temporary worker settlements are located near production areas but remain disconnected from dependable toilets, handwashing, water supply, and waste removal systems.

Field Care Node responds to this condition as a compact and deployable micro-infrastructure unit. It is not a conventional public toilet block or a generic portable WC cabin. It is a self-contained service module that brings essential hygiene infrastructure directly into temporary settlements. The unit combines an open handwashing area, two WC cabins, one simple shower cabin, clean water storage, greywater collection, blackwater management, and service connections within a single elevated structure. This organization allows the module to operate independently where fixed infrastructure is missing or unreliable.

The elevated platform is central to the design. By lifting the unit above the ground, the interior is protected from mud, dust, surface water, and uneven terrain. The space beneath the platform becomes a technical service zone for tanks, pipes, pumps, and maintenance equipment. Clean water is stored and supplied within the module, while greywater and toilet waste are collected separately and removed through a controlled service cycle. The project therefore does not wait for permanent infrastructure; it installs a temporary but effective sanitation system where it is urgently needed.

Architecturally, Field Care Node is lightweight, recognizable, and humane. Its rounded capsule form, translucent ribbed shell, fold-down canopies, and warm integrated lighting give the module a clear identity within the camp. During the day, the canopies provide shade and define a protected threshold. At night, the module glows like a lantern, improving orientation, safety, and visibility in dark settlements. This light is not decorative; it turns sanitation into a visible point of care.

Field Care Node is also a repeatable system. It can be transported, installed, serviced, and multiplied according to the size of the settlement. Multiple modules can form a small sanitation network connected by service routes for clean water delivery and waste removal. Through this approach, the project transforms sanitation from a hidden technical necessity into a visible architectural commitment to human dignity.

where the mist dwells

In Mexico City, public restrooms have historically carried a stigma of neglect, hostility, and unhealthiness. Breaking this narrative is not only possible, it is an act of urban justice. This project emerges in the heart of Chapultepec Forest—the city’s living lung and cultural epicenter—with the premise of restoring dignity to the common space. Through self-sufficient, low-maintenance architecture, an oasis is conceived to embrace the citizen, redefining hygiene and safety in the urban environment.

The Concept: The Poetics of the Translucent

The proposal explores the delicate boundary between the intimate and the exposed: how to provide privacy amidst a public natural setting? The answer materializes through layers of transparency. Through a choreographed interplay of textures, transitions, and light—both natural and artificial—the design transforms an elementary biological need into a sensory and aesthetic experience, where the body dialogues with the landscape securely and unseen.

The Journey: A Ritual of Introspection

The journey is a mystical transition that awakens the senses. It all begins beneath the feet: an ancestral volcanic stone path, expelled by the Popocatépetl volcano centuries ago, guides the visitor as the shelter’s dome subtly emerges from the topography. At the entrance, a concrete monolith stands as a silent guardian, utilizing a subtle pulse of red light to communicate the occupancy of the modules.

As one advances, the user enters a canyon flanked by two concrete walls that increase in height with every step. Twilight envelopes the path, acting as a threshold that cleanses the city’s noise, before dramatically opening into a circular corridor. Here, fiberglass panels filter the light and blur the forest foliage, creating an ethereal atmosphere that seems to float over the stone bed.

Upon choosing a module, a curved, fluted glass door glides smoothly open. The interior reveals itself as a timeless sanctuary lined with brushed stainless steel, its surfaces catching abstract reflections of the surroundings. Looking upward, a transparent dome exposes the immensity of the sky and the whisper of the treetops. It is a moment of absolute communion: an intimate re-encounter with oneself and the cosmos, before melting back into the flow of life.

The design of the public toilet at Polana Huciska in the Tatra National Park is a thoughtful dialogue between modern architectural thought and the rugged beauty of the Tatra landscape. As Polana Huciska is an exceptionally popular destination for mountain walks, frequent dog walking, and comfortable cycling, the area currently suffers from a lack of such infrastructure. Therefore, the project’s core philosophy is to provide a multifunctional support centre that blends into the landscape as its creative continuation.

The building’s outer shell functions as a bridge between nature and tradition. The front, glazed façade opens up the interior to the stunning mountain panorama, serving as an open invitation to hikers. On the outside, carefully designed sheltered recesses are integrated into the structure, providing an immediate refuge where visitors can rest. The exterior architecture also conceals recycling bins within the timber-panelled façade, and features dedicated bicycle parking spots and water bowls for dogs. This philosophy of openness is expanded on the side of the building, where an additional outdoor seating area is accompanied by sun loungers and a campfire spot, creating an intimate space to relax and enjoy a meal before continuing the journey.

Upon entering the facility, visitors are greeted by a curved wall finished with traditional wooden shingles, which pays a direct, creative homage to the heritage of regional mountain residential architecture. The layout is highly inclusive and divided into clear functional zones. The centerpiece is a representative washbasin zone with large mirrors, where a selection of sinks has been thoughtfully lowered to accommodate both children and wheelchair users. The sanitary section also consists of distinct women’s and men’s toilets, and a parent-and-child room equipped with an armchair, a microwave, and a changing table.

Crucial to the location’s specific needs, the facility features hangers designed specially for heavy hiking backpacks. Seamlessly integrated into the wall right above these hangers is a custom mountain map highlighting the area’s characteristic landmarks. The interior also includes an indoor relaxation zone furnished with comfortable poufs. A fully equipped first-aid zone ensures safety on the trail, while the social area includes a kitchenette complete with a kettle, a microwave, and other essential amenities useful for warming up food during a demanding hike. A dedicated utility and storage room supports the daily operations of the facility. The warm, welcoming, yet highly practical atmosphere of the interior is defined by the consistent use of light wood and light-coloured natural stone. This material palette not only ensures visual cohesion with the surroundings but also guarantees the highest standards of hygiene and ease of maintenance, making the facility a durable, welcoming, and caring stop on the mountain trail.

“STITCH ME UP!” – A Sanitary Facility for Niscemi

Stitch Me Up! is a communal sanitation facility designed for Niscemi, Sicily, where increasing environmental instability has exposed the vulnerability of everyday infrastructure. Rather than reconstructing conventional domestic systems, the project proposes a shared infrastructure where essential water-dependent activities are brought together within a simple and necessary intervention. The project reconsiders the public toilet as more than a technical necessity, positioning it instead as an accessible piece of infrastructure that supports both everyday life and long-term resilience.

The landslide of January 2026 urges for an immediate reaction. The dislocation of 1.500 Niscemi inhabitants and an increasing water scarcity call for simple and effective systems to be embedded in the urban fabric thatNiscemi’s inhabitants can rely on.

Water becomes the organising element of the project. Sicily loses approximately 52% of water due to its poor water infrastructure. Instead of being distributed across individual households, water is collected, stored, and managed collectively within a single building. This concentration of infrastructure allows resources to be monitored and maintained more efficiently while reducing dependence on fragile domestic systems. This system utilizes water tanks to manage the water flow and a biodigester to metabolize the waste. This process produces reusable clean water for agricultural purposes, as well as methane to be redistributed to the surrounding dwellings.

The project is located within one of the urban voids left behind by demolition, the building offers a method to address these voids. The architecture is deliberately modest. Two stone walls establish the primary structure, while a lightweight steel roof spans between them to create a sheltered interior. Circulation space is intentionally reduced to offer as much functional and effective systems as possible. Simple construction methods reduce material use and creates a durable building that can be assembled economically using familiar techniques. Within this structural framework, lightweight partitions define toilets, showers, sinks, and service spaces.

Stitch Me Up! offers a different perspective of the urban toilet as a common infrastructure, where architecture supports resilience through shared use rather than individual ownership. By reacting to geological urges and environmental vulnerabilities, the project demonstrates how a simple intervention can contribute to stronger social connections while establishing a practical model for living with increasing environmental uncertainty.

Travelling through Iceland means crossing hundreds of kilometres of unspoilt nature, where services and infrastructure are often absent. In a territory characterised by vast distances, unpredictable weather and remote areas, even a simple stop can become a necessity that is difficult to meet. For this reason, travel requires careful planning, especially with children, families and people with reduced mobility.

WAYSTATION was born from the need to rethink the public restroom as a civic facility along the route, an essential infrastructure for contemporary travel. More than a public toilet, it is a point of reference for people on the move: a safe, recognisable place, integrated into the landscape and capable of offering comfort, shelter and orientation.

The project is located along Iceland’s southern coast, near the beach of Vík í Mýrdal, immersed in a volcanic landscape characterised by cliffs, black sand beaches and ocean views. In this area, services are concentrated within urban settlements and around tourist attractions, while large portions of the territory remain without adequate facilities.

WAYSTATION offers a new interpretation of the stop: an architectural intervention designed to engage with the landscape, improve the visitor experience and restore dignity to the journey itself. The project reinterprets the local vernacular latrine, typically small timber structures lacking washbasins or running water.

The WAYSTATION is composed of three primary functions.

The public functions are placed within a glazed volume that ensures visual permeability, allows visitors to enjoy the surrounding landscape from within and makes the building’s purpose immediately recognisable from the outside. Equipped with washbasins and seating, this area welcomes travellers, providing what is needed for a short or extended stop, while offering shelter from weather.

The private cabins consist of enclosed modular volumes, illuminated from above through zenithal light provided by roof skylights. These modules are clad with satin-finished aluminium panels, a surface capable of reflecting both light and the surrounding environment.

A distribution spine separates the two functions: externally, timber highlights the entrance, while internally the space acts as a transition between public and private areas.

The project provides inclusive spaces for all travellers, moving beyond gender divisions to embrace every individual. Transparency also plays a key role: it discourages inappropriate behaviour, enhances the perception of safety and fosters respect for shared public space.

The project integrates environmental sustainability strategies with efficient resource management. Materials have been selected with attention to durability and ease of maintenance. The building is powered by geothermal energy, harnessing Iceland’s volcanic activity to create a fully autonomous, zero-emission infrastructure.

Every WAYSTATION represents an oasis, a landmark capable of mapping the route and giving rhythm to the landscape. The concept is deeply connected to Iceland, yet it can be adapted to many travel contexts. Over the past decade, route-based travel has grown significantly, both on foot and by small vehicles. WAYSTATION represents an opportunity to provide this form of tourism with appropriate infrastructure, generating meaningful economic value even for inland and fragile regions.  

MANIFESTO

In rural Korea, sanitation remains one of the dark sides of the country’s rapid development. Since the government-led development of the 1970s, agricultural productivity has increased dramatically, yet the awareness and conditions surrounding the people who sustain that production have remained largely unchanged. Even today, farmers working in fields separated from their villages have often had to relieve themselves outdoors or in nearby bushes. In this process, the main workers of these rural landscapes — elderly people and women — have naturally been exposed to risks such as disease, wild animals, and crime. We imagine a rural future where the dignity of sanitation, rest, and safety, including the most basic physiological needs, is protected within the everyday workplace of agricultural labor. This project proposes a toilet that architecturally reconsiders the neglected sanitation of rural life.

PROPOSAL

In the rural workplace, a toilet cannot remain merely a room for relieving oneself. Agricultural workers return from fields and paddies after direct contact with soil, water, fertilizer, pesticides, and pollutants. What they need is not a single toilet stall, but a continuous sequence where the dirt and contamination of agricultural labor can be washed away, and where the body and tools can be cleaned. At the same time, this proposal acts as a public health device that transforms rural sanitation from an accepted personal inconvenience into a shared public issue. Through sanitation, we propose a platform where more active forms of communal care can take root in rural life.

INTERVENTION

In Gyuam-myeon, Buyeo-gun, Chungcheongnam-do, there are abandoned structures repeatedly placed between rice fields. Originally built as resting shelters during the reorganization of agricultural land, they now remain underused, filled with dusty objects and faint traces of past occupation. Rather than demolishing these abandoned shelters, we reuse them. By transforming the existing frame into a place for rural public health, the project seeks to recover the latent public structure already present in the countryside instead of occupying new land. The existing shelter frame and the newly inserted sanitary modules are not separate objects. They are woven together into a single public health pavilion that responds to the existing rural context. During the day, it supports farmers’ hygiene and rest; at dawn and night, it becomes a triangular landmark that marks its position along the dark rural road.

MAINTENANCE

Our proposal is planned as a small community-based system in which nearby users who share the same service area become the primary caretakers. The replaceable cartridge toilet can be exchanged on site by common users using the toilet, while collection, disinfection, treatment, and inspection are handled by public institutions. By dividing maintenance according to everyday and professional responsibilities, the system not only manages the toilet more efficiently, but also returns scattered rural living infrastructure to a shared sphere of responsibility. We hope this sanitary infrastructure will operate as a system that makes the neglected agricultural workplace safer and more sustainable.

Forest light is never constant. Along the paths of Meiji Jingu, sunlight filters through layers of leaves, shifting with the movement of the canopy and the passing hours. Walking beneath the trees, the gaze is naturally drawn upward. This public toilet begins with that experience.

The forest is experienced only within the rhythm of daylight, as the Meiji Jingu grounds open with sunrise and close at sunset. Within this temporal frame, light becomes both guide and measure.

Replacing an outdated facility, the project reimagines the public toilet as an inclusive space of comfort and calm. A circular form dissolves into its surroundings through reflective glass, returning the changing image of the forest while allowing the landscape to remain visually dominant.

Light defines the entire spatial sequence. It becomes both orientation and structure. Movement is guided through shifting illumination, filtered through the glazed perimeter of the central courtyard, washed across curved surfaces by a continuous ceiling slit, and gently drawing the visitor inward.

Within each room, the forest canopy is reinterpreted. Circular and oval cast-glass ceiling elements admit soft daylight while fragmenting views of the trees above. Even in dimmed weather, they gather and softenlight, giving each space a quiet intensity.

At the centre, the journey opens to the sky. A circular courtyard frames the canopy above, where a shared basin carved from Japanese light grey fine-grained granite recalls the traditional shrine water basin, creating a tactile connection to earth and water. Here, movement slows, revealing the continuity between ground, forest and sky.

Where daylight cannot reach, illumination continues its passage. Concealed light softly washes the ceiling from the courtyard opening, while a gentle cove of light gathers around the central basin, preserving the calm rhythm established by the changing light of the forest.

The exterior walls are formed by curved insulated glass panels with an internal mirrored coating that dissolves the building into its surroundings through reflection. Inside, matte polished concrete floors and ceilings diffuse light softly, while polished concrete walls extend subtle reflections through the interior. Stainless steel fittings, frosted glass fins and integrated wayfinding elements embedded within glass and polished aluminium surfaces complete a durable and restrained material palette, where light becomes the defining material.

This public toilet is not an object in the forest, but an extension of it, where reflection, daylight and sky transform an everyday ritual into a quiet encounter with the forest.

From Utility to Architecture: Reimagining Public Toilets in Paris

This project reconsiders the public toilet system of Paris, proposing an architectural alternative deeply rooted in the city’s spatial and urban conditions.

01. Reconsidering Public Toilets in Paris

The evolution of public toilets in Paris, from the historic Vespasienne to the modern Sanisette, has historically prioritized hygiene, maintenance, and efficiency. Designed as compact, standardized technical objects, these systems effectively respond to basic urban needs but remain largely detached from the city’s broader architectural and spatial identity.

While highly effective in eras when public infrastructure and basic sanitation were the primary concerns, contemporary public spaces demand more than mere functional performance. Infrastructure should not only operate efficiently but also enhance the spatial quality and civic experience of the city. In this context, the public toilet evolves from a concealed service device into an integral part of the urban landscape, actively shaping the public realm. This project proposes an intervention designed not as a universal product, but as a place inseparable from its specific site and historical context.

02. Jardin des Tuileries

Situated at the heart of Paris, the Jardin des Tuileries is the city’s first public garden and a vital civic symbol. Originating as royal palace grounds and transitioning into a public space after the French Revolution, the garden embodies both classical order and democratic identity.

Positioned along the grand axis between the Louvre and Place de la Concorde, the park hosts everyday pauses and major public gatherings alike. Despite the significance of this setting, existing facilities are either hidden beneath retaining walls or replaced by temporary structures during events. Though functionally sufficient, they fail to engage with the garden’s spatial grandeur. This proposal introduces an architectural alternative that respects the classical order of the park while introducing nuanced spatial sequences within it.

03. Architecture

The design strictly derives from the existing grid and structural logic of the Jardin des Tuileries. Rather than introducing a singular, detached object, the project employs minimal interventions that extend the garden’s spatial order through walls, circulation, and thresholds.

Walls serve as the primary architectural device—guiding movement, framing views, establishing privacy, and mediating between landscape and interior. Through this fragmented, open composition, the architecture harmonizes functional necessity with civic experience. Regional stone anchors the intervention within Paris’s material continuity, while reflective surfaces subtly conceal the private stalls by mirroring the surrounding greenery. Filtered natural light further deepens the relationship between architecture, landscape, and movement.

As visitors navigate the garden, pass through transitional thresholds, and return to the landscape, the act of using the public facility becomes part of the spatial sequence of the garden itself.

The project proposes a new approach to public sanitary infrastructure located within the natural landscapes of Finland. Instead of treating toilets, showers and saunas as purely technical facilities, the concept creates a series of small architectural spaces dedicated to hygiene, regeneration and experiencing the surrounding environment.
The design si focused on the camping community – a group of users often overlooked in contemporary architectural discussions. We see outdoor travellers, hikers and campers as a unique social group whose temporary way of living creates new opportunities for architecture. The project responds to their needs by providing not only functional facilities, but also places that encourage interaction, sharing and building a sense of community within the landscape.
The concept is based on a repeatable wooden cabin module inspired by the traditional Finnish mökki. A single architectural language connects different functions, allowing individual units to be combined into flexible sanitary clusters depending on the needs of each location. Thanks to the modular system, the cabins can be arranged in different configurations- creating shared central spaces, courtyards and gathering areas around a fireplace, while opening the outer sides of the buildings towards surrounding views and nature.
Each cabin is designed as a simple and recognizable form that refers to traditional Nordic architecture through its compact volume, pitched roof and use of natural materials. This familiar archetype is reinterpreted in a contemporary way, creating minimal structures that become a natural extension of the landscape.
The relationship between the user and nature is an essential part of the experience. Carefully positioned openings and large glazed surfaces frame selected views of the forest, connecting intimate interior spaces with the outside environment while preserving privacy. Everyday activities such as washing, bathing or using the sauna become quiet rituals connected with the rhythm of nature.
The project creates more than a collection of sanitary buildings- ti introduces a flexible network of small forest cabins where basic human needs, social interaction a n d the experience of wilderness exist together.

New York City is shaped by constant turnover and its iconic construction elements are an essential part of its fabric. Sidewalk sheds and street barriers have become characters occupying streets and sidewalks for years at a time, organizing how people move through the city. Mayor Zohran Mamdani has sparked a renewed interest in public toilets that coincides with his calls to remove the nearly 400 miles of sidewalk sheds.

Second Shift proposes a public toilet prototype for New York City that repurposes urban infrastructural elements.

Street barriers modify circulation; they may indicate that a street is closed off for outdoor seating or redirect pedestrians away from an active construction site. Sidewalk sheds respond to circulation, protecting pedestrian walkways from falling debris, as well as direct sun and rain.

The structure Second Shift proposes is supported by stacked street barrier walls that form individual, accessible toilet modules. Typically filled with water, the barriers now serve as wet walls, supporting the interior toilet or exterior sinks.

These walls support a roof that reconfigures the sidewalk shed structure to cover the toilets and collect rainwater which is used in the flushing mechanisms and sinks.

Stainless steel floor grates allow the modules to be washed efficiently by draining directly below. This reduces maintenance demand while responding to the realities of heavily used public facilities.

The design of this module provokes users to question the role of familiar infrastructural elements. Typically associated with the selective and opaque work of maintaining the city, here they are part of civic and individual life more directly.

By extending the life of sidewalk sheds and street barriers, the project anticipates a future where the city is designed for productive turnover. Instead of being discarded, scrapped or recycled, once their initial purpose is fulfilled, these objects are transformed into durable public infrastructure that addresses a longstanding need for accessible toilets while creating a new dialogue between construction, reuse, and the public realm.