Bathroom (Objekt)

Bathroom history and evolution is the fascinating subject of this deeply insightful and entertaining book. The story of the modern bathroom is one of grand feats of engineering and mass production, and also of the unremarkable, mundane and repressed. The bathroom - where we are most alone and most private - is where we perform the most intimate of our daily routines; it is also a space where we take refuge from the outside world. The moment however we turn on a tap or flush the toilet, the smallest room is hooked up to the largest of all infrastructural systems: a vast and complex network of pipes, pumps and treatment plants. This book charts the evolution of the bathroom and the habits and lifestyles to which it gave rise. The book considers how and why the bathroom emerged and how it became an international symbol of key modern values - of cleanliness, order and progress. It explores how the modern bathroom, its technologies and its customs have been exported globally through colonialism, the media, fashion, world expositions and tourism, as well as the tensions this process has caused. More user-friendly and low-tech alternatives are also discussed, which are set to become ever more relevant in our environmentally conscious age. Generously illustrated, Bathroom examines examples from history and from across the globe. From squats to hi-tech bidet toilets, and from cast-iron bathtubs to monsoon showers, Bathroom is an original study of this significant but often overlooked space.