the Bathroom the Kitchen the Aesthetics of Waste Ellen Lupton

•

and the Aesthetics of Waste

(A Process of Elimination)

•

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNQWU1DGM ENIS

F OR E WORD

INTRODUCTION

•

IV Y

The ProctsSo[Elim ination 1

THE DISCIPLINE OF CONSUMPTION

Housekeeping in the TW(ntieth Centu ry 11

THE SANITARY CITY

TH E MOD E RN BATtfROOM

AChronologyo[WaUr. Wasu.

OrnQmt'Ut.andGrime

THE MODERN KITCHEN

At Home in the Factory 41

STREAMLINING

The Aesthetics o[Wasu ~

THE FUTURE

A RtnewedAtSthtticsofWasu

71 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 74

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The exhibition and publication were initiated by Katy Kline, director of MIT List Visual Arts Center. The installation was directed by List Center preparator Jon Roll. They and their staff made this project possible. Many individuals at the len cling institutions shared their knowledge and time, including Kimberly Barta, The American Advertising Museum; David Erickson; Peter Fetterer, Kohler Company; Don Hooper, Vintage Plumbing; Dean Krimmel, Peale Museum; J. Duncan Laplante., Trenton City Museum; Russell and Bettejane Manoog, American Museum of Sanitary Plumbing; Larry Paul and Tod Spence, Baltimore Gas and Electric Company; Richard Sgritta, Museum Village; and Stephen van Dyk and Susan Yelavich, Cooper·Hewitt National Museum of Design. Our teachers at City University of New York Graduate Center provided ideas and criticism. We thank Marlene Park, Rosemarie Haag Bletter, Stuart Ewen, and Rosalind Krauss. Opportunities to present our work at Johns Hopkins University, University of California, Irvine, and UCLA were enabled by Julia Reinhard Lupton and Kenneth Reinhard, who also shared their insights on psychoanylitic criticism. Our parents have taught us about using, cleaning, and designing bathrooms and kitchens; we thank Mary Jane Lupton a.n d Kenneth Baldwin, William and Shirley Lupton, and Ruby and Jerry Miller. The editors of Zone Books published an early version of our essay in Incorporations (Zone 6 , 1992); their suggestiOns helped to shape the project in its current fOrln. Research and production assistance was provided by Kamran Ashtary, Kevin Connolly, Tori Egherman, Gabrielle Esperdy, Michelle Miller, Dina Rade\ca, and Angela Wildman. The printing of this book was managed by Suzanne Salinetti and Kenneth Milford at Studley Press. We also thank Kevin Lippert, Princeton Architectural Press, for his support in clistributi.n g the book. Many friends and associates contributed ideas, infollnation, and support, including Edward Bottone, Brian Boyce, Ralph Caplan, Russell Flinchum, Mildred Friedman, Elizabeth Marcus, Mike Mills, Charles Nix, Richard Prelinger, Jane Rosch, Ian Schoenher, Jennifer Tobias, George Tschemy, Massimo Vignelli, Edward Wencec, Richard Saul Wurman, and Gianfranco Zaccai. Finally, we thank our colleagues at Design Writing Research and Cooper. Hewitt National Museum of Design for their patience and support while we completed this project.

Ellen Lupton and J. Abbott Miller

AL.teL.rsrecrte I k bescrer'TlCl r-atenaal

FOREWORD

Design history has been the stepchild of intellectual history; too often it has focused exclusively on the f01'1ll or aesthetics of objects. This project is predicated on the belief that objects do not simply exist in a culture. but. permeated as they are with its beliefs. values. fears, and fantasies , actually definei\. This exhibition and the publication which accompanies it revise the understanding of streamlining. which is widely credited as defining advanced American design through the mid· twentieth century. Whereas the telln previously had been seen as emblematic of speed, progress, and technological utopianism, guest curators Ellen lupton and J. Abbott Miller connnect the ideology and aesthetics of modern design to the human body as a metaphor for the actions and implications of the consumer economy. They have taken the bathroom and the kitchen, two charged domestic locations, as underexamined paradigms for critical twentieth-century design issues of both historical and contemporary importance. This look at the inter· relationship among technology, form , and function and the personal and culturally imposed confrontation with waste is particularly timely, as Americans appear finally to be confronting the limits of resources and ecological systems. This ambitious venture consumed a large part of Ellen's and Abbott's recent life. They embodied the efficiency they were studying, and wasted no time or effort in digesting large amounts of material to produce their admirably thoughtful and articulate reevaluation of our intimate relationship to the domestic landscape. I could not be more grateful for the insights they have provided in organizing both the exhibition and the publication and permitting me the pleasure oflooking over their shoulders. Institutional and individual collectors generously allowed us to borrow important objects despite inconvenient deadlines. My list Visual Arts Center colleagues stream· lined the logistics of a cumbersome project with their customary wise counsel and deft professionalism. The Design Arts Program of the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Graham Foundation, Chicago believed in the venture at an early stage and provided both moral and financial support toward its realization.

Katy Kline Director, MIT List Visual Arts Center

AL.teL.rsrecrte I k bescrer'TlCl r-atenaal

•

... • •

illustration from an ad for Sheetrock TIle Board. 19'15. Th. wrfac. of the mwrd of hAlth is established (Stone 188-191 ). 1870. a deptr a,.ent of publk works In New York City II for-M ed and

becins modemirin, Manhattan's sewers. Connection spurs fOf' water suppty and waste rt:mcMl art placed I.,ery I 5 'Mt alon, new lines, In anticipation of new houle co,.. strUcdon (Stone 29.). 1870. sarntary ."lln....;"I becins to evoJvc u a diSCip line. In r"ponM to demands for experu In water supply. and dl"llna,p. By 1880 the term "sanitary enetneer" p ins curr.ncy (Stone 189).

nwace.

18705. ia'le intqrated sewer consuucdon beII"I In American tides In re5pon.. to the valt Increase In wa.t er consumption .fforded by new waterworks and the kKreaJinc ule of flush toiletS. extensive sueet pavin, Is also initi.ted to knprove drain... (Schultz 393).

I 870a. AtMrican sanitarians campa.i&n aplnsc the Inadequate dralna,ct: provided for domestic buMdl"". The foul odors of fluky drain systems w.re erroneousty aSSUmed to be • major sourc.e of iUn"5 (Stone 183).

en,..

1877. The 1fumber OM SonItoty neeI', a paper d irected at plumbers. builders. archlteC'u. docton. and the ' .....1 public. bocln. publication. Later renamed Sonhory fncinet.r and then EA,itteem, kcOt'd. the pap." II responsible for Improve".enu In the plumbin, industry (Stone 191). 18n. Thomas Ed;,,,,, and Joseph Swan Indeptndendy Invent Incandescent c:arbon-ftlament tamps w itaba. for domestic use (Hard)",ent 21), electric li,&ht bu:orne. a majOf' competitor .... id' PI Itcht dun"l tho 1170. (Sparke 37).

AL.teL.rsrecrte I k bescrer'TlCl r-atenaal

T

loco for a plumber's trade mapzine.

1906, CoUtction BaJtlmore Gas and Electric Company.

B

E

GAS.

R .,. HOTWAT

Between 1880 and 1900. water preuure becomes Inadequue as water consumption CroW'S. Houses at this time typically place a water supply tank on the tOP floor of the buildin" filled with a hand pump. whose downward flow produc:es sufficenc pr,s.sure (Stone 298). l880s. che ,erm cheory of disease is confirmed. The discovery thac rnany diseases are waterborne encour.a&es che campaj," for dean water. sewer construction, and water and "WIle fi ltration. These campaicns lead co decreased typhoid morulity rates (Schula 395). 1881 . the New York Board of HeaJth belins supervisln, new plumbin, installations and requirin, the revsention o( plumben. encoun.,in, professionalIsm throuch account· ability. Plumbel'$ cain resptct as the trlde orranites Juel(. (Stone 295). 1881 . the estimated COst o( plumbin, fixtures (or a typical tlouse is S500. Another source in 1887 estimates plumb!n, com (or an aven.a:e home It $600 (Stone 302). 1890. the COst to plumb In Ive,..,e home is between ssao and Slooo. or 20% the total buildln, cost. In 1860 It kid con only $250 to plumb a $)000 house. or 11S the total COst (Wri&ht 1980. 90) . 1890. the Edlson·Swan Company builds power SUttons in Ncw York and LOMan. which become proto· types (or municipal ,eneraton in Europe and the US (Hardyment 28). From the tau 1880s to the earty 1900s. urban health and pbnnln, commissions take (orm in response to poUution from sewers and wuerworits. These croups act as impartial councils, mediating the divided intere-su o( different political bodies (Schultz: 399).

tV}

flTT

1891, New York Clcy's secretary of the BoJ,rd of Health announCeJ that cesspools a.nd outdoor privies (usually in the lots behind houses and tenements) have. been successfolly eradicated (Stone 294),

1919, a USDA survey finds thlt while 42X of farm households have power· driven machinery. only I SS have power·driven domestic appUances (Kleineu.r 173).

1894. ttle American Society for

o(·Uvln, Inde,; (or the first time. Indicadn, that It has become part of the American "standard o( IIvin," (Shaw 3 1).

Munklpal Improvemenu Is founded by engineers lnvotved with uttan water supply. sewers. parks. and roads (Schultt 40 I). 190 • • New York', Model Teoement House Re(orm law requires waler to be provided on uc:h floor of new buildin&s. The law later requires that wattr be supplied to eac:h &pal'Unent. This sets a precedent for San Fran· cisco. Baltimore. Cleveland. Piwbu,...,. Chicago. Boston. and Phil~. delphia. which require a water-closet for each family or evtry three rooms. Since plumbing had become a pre· requisite. many builders had furth.r incentive to Insull Inthtubs. 86~ of new tenements built in New Yorit CJty between 190 1·19 10 have bathtubs (Glassber, 18). 8y 1901. ax of US homes have elee · O"lclty provkSed by power sadons: the number rises to 24.3% In 191 8: 53.2" in 1925. and 7~ in 1948 (HlI'dyment 28: Cowan 1976. IS9). 8y 1907. a lmost every city In the countl'y has a sewer (Schultz 39S). 8y 1910, over 70% of Amerkan cities with populations ovcr 30.000 t'ln' their own waterworks. The conyer· sion (rom private wuer companies to municipally controlled wuerworks oce-urs mainly In the period between IUO and 1890 (Schul.. 393). 8y 19 13. GenenJ Electric Is maritetin& irons., toasters. and an electric ran,e for the consumer martc.et; sales do not become s.,,.liIicant until the 20s. tlowever. when the home appliance Industry triples in value (Sparke 27).

1923. e leerrldty Is listed In the con-

8y 19'29. e leven nu..nufacwrers control 8SS o( the home appliance industry. many o( these companies also sell electrical power (Sparke 27). In 1930 c.8S~ of urt:l;ln home, have electricity. Betwee.n 1930 and 1940. the annual use of e lectridty per home doubles. d ue to Ireater use o( electrical appliances (Shaw 1 1). 193-4. 89'S of housin, uniu in New York City are equipped with bath or shower (G lassbe,., 18). 1937. the death rate (rom typhOid (ever decreases from )S .8~ per 100.000 in 1900 to 2.1 per 100,000 as a result of increased attention to water trutmenL ArcMeaurol Record Vol. 86 No. 5 (November 1939): 65. 1918. more tN.n h.a.1( the US populauon (73.000.000) disposes of lu bodily waste throu,h pubUc sewqe sysyems. ArcflitKtufol R«ord Vol. 86 No. 5 (November 1939): 65. 1940. 93 .S~ of the dwellinp in the urban US l\ave Nnnin, water; 83S are equipped with Indoor tolleu. and 77.5% hne bathin, arra",emenu. or the more than 40" of Ameriu.ns IMn, in rural lrt:u. 11.U N.ve runnning water in their homes and 11.2% have tOilets and bathtubs (WlnkJer I I). In homes wired for electricity. 64X have mechanial refriaerators. 6)X have washln, machines. a.nd S2X have vacuum duners (Shaw 32.. 3).

1~

riel k bcscrcr'llClI" atenaal

AllllLE, despite its d eS""t'C, issocndurins , so reudily a,",wable, so easy to keep clean and

M

rrcc from cost of \'('plnt'Cl11cnt. thntitisnctullllythc most eeonomical of all materials for th" interior fini h of "uilclings of " he lt er rhnn.clcr both COlnmcrcinl and residential. 80

" .,,;,. r:! I1Ilutll'dn/ (:'nIJrn Jrl'1/1,'", ,j,,_",-",.,,~ ./lrUt' ill 1M oW., tH I*lJie bwfflli"l# ,," P,./ ,,-r 1M OIfJ:irtl' I ., ill'''' I J.op,ut"",," ('....I!ctr 0.,.0..... 11,., j,dl'HIII , - - _ obIi,.,""', 0.' mw,M_

NATIO AL A SSOCIATION

of MARBLE DEALERS

ROCI(EFF.tLER B TWING - CLEVELAND -

owo

THE MODERN BATHROOM

Ornament and Grime

Adolph l.oos. ·Plumbtrs," in I.

Spot.. ,.'" ",. Void: C""""" fj"'Y' I897··goo. tnns. ,ant O. Ntwman ~d

IM n H. Smith (CombridvMIT Pre" 198a) . 45-49·

:a. P. T. Frankl. "Saths llnd Bath· D~fing Rootnl." Howse altd c.nW. (August '9'7): 51 -55·

}. Egmont Arms. "I maglrulion (or Sa'el" AtlwrriSl"C

Arls (Ncwember 1931): ]:.l·l }.

The Austrian architect Adolph Loos travelled through America from 1893 to 1896. More noteworthy than buildings were American bathrooms. In an 1898 essay Loos compared Austrian and American facilities: • A home without a room for bathing! Impossible in America. The thought that at the end of the nineteenth century there is stiU a nation ... whose inhabitants cannot bathe daily seems atrocious to an American."l like its grain silos and factories. America's bathrooms at the tum of the century presented an image of unfettered modernity. often idealized as a spontaneous evolution of pure functionalist design. The modernism of the bathroom- its straightforwardly technological fOlllls and the novelty of its materials within the domestic landscape made it an exemplary new environment. an instance of what design would be like unburdened by historical precedents and styles. In the words of designer Paul Frankl: ' Chippendale never designed a bathtub.... we have been forced 10 use our own ingenuity in planning [the bathroom]."2 The bathroom's imagined freedom from the baggage of his lory led designers to envision it as the laboratory from which the modernization of the rest of the home would eventually foUow. Paired with the increasing importance of hygiene in Ameri· can culture. the bathroom was poised to influence aU areas of domestic life. It was also upheld as an aesthetic model: thus the designer Egmont Arens exhorted readers. 'Consider electric refrigerators and skyscrapers and bath· room equipment. This is where to look for the development of a genuine modernism."l Against this "genuine modernism" was judged the frivolity of the stylisti.c moduno that also influenced American design. While modtme

A I9ISadlor Trenton Pone-riel Company. The buhroom is shown u the core of the enU,htened. modem home.

UThe new order invading our homes has established itselffirst and most firmly in our kitchens, bathrooms, and basements. " Walltr Oorwin Te~g~.. Df$igtt Tltb Oor (New York: Harcourt. Brace and Company, 1940). S1.

le~

a 1917 ad for the National Association of Marble Dealen. The use of marble In bathrooms wa.s crltitft.ed because itS porous surfac.... allow deposJu of moisture and d irt to acc,u mulue.

r nc

A deluxe b~throom u depicted In the J. L Mott Iron Works Cat3loa:ue or 1888. The RKtureS Inside or the wooden c;abinetry were mad, of cutIron and wlrl porc;el~i n enameled. The style shown here is "Easd~ke_"

4 . ~ Corbusier

ckso .bed the

modem home as one thaI adopced the h)'8ienk s~ndolrds of the bathroom. Stt 1'1le Manwl of tho Dw.lling· in

Towards" New Ardtiuawrt. l..e Corbusin

(New York: [)(weor Publicitions. I5)86: firsl pubU.shc!d '9}1,.

1 'l~ . ' :Z).

5- See th4! cl.uslc 5tudy

of N th,room

ersonom ics by Alexander Kin, The &adu!»" (New York: Viking Prt'ss,

'976).

and art deco styles ' expressed" modernity. the aesthetic of the bathroom embodied it. As such. the bathroom was seen as beyond style. which explains why designers as disparate as Walter Dorwin Teague and I.e Corbusier both valorized it as a pure expression of fOI ill in the service of function.4 However. the ' non-style" of the bathroom has "01 been chiefly detelDlined by the functional require ments of defecating and bathing-these concerns are consistently overlooked in the design of bathroom equipment.5 Hygiene. rath.e r than bodily comfort. determined the evolution of the "bathroom· aesthetic. Non-porous vitreous china. enameled iron. and ceramic tile were favored over such potentially moisture- and germ-gathering materials as wood. marble. and wallpaper. The cracks and recesses as well as carved and relief ornament of early bathrooms were eliminated; in their place came smooth. unornamented surfaces impervious to dust and moisture. White porcelain fixtures were freed from their dark wooden enclosures and made 8ush with the Roor and walls. The hard. white porcelain bathroom rendered dust and grime immediately visible. This prouss ofeiimiliOIUl" took place from roughly 1890 (with the gradual decline of decorated enclosures and sculptural fixtures) to 1930 (when the decorated. yet hygienic. bathroom appeared). A modem aesthetic in design was also developing at this time. characterized in part by the elimination of ornament. Designers working in an industrialized society questioned the logic of reproducing traditionally hand-wrought ornament by machine. Loos' 1908 polemic ' Ornament and Crime" equated progress with the elimination of ornament from utilitarian objects. arguing that ' ornament is wasted labor power and hence wasted health. "6 Others urged the acceptance of a new aesthetic that exploited the properties of the machine. rather than using it to imitate handcraft ideals. This new sensibility about the relationship between technology and design had its laboratory phase in the bathroom.

6. Adotpb Loot. ·OrNm~tand

Crime," P'''I,oms .ruJMAI1~ 011

2otk-Custury

Ardlrrmwrt. Ulrkh Conrads. od. (Cambridge: MIT P..... ,~) . '9" ....

..

See .also Kal)' Klint-. -","

",

"""'..... FOOnI of

rAe Fu'ure in Amerit.Aft Dc:sip '9Jos/,g3or (c:. mbridge: MIT lJJ1 ecnttr Co< tho Visual Am. '9~) . I.~ ailidzed

oma.rne:nt for rutl. m, the- consumption oC I1yIos 10 thai

ROOd' or• ..pac4). FOlmica. there was a shift backward to the typology of the enclosed cabinet with the basin set into a slab_ o . ~PorceJain enamel- is ~

Top. a wuh stand (rom J. L Mott's

1888 ca.taJoaut . The counter is made of marble. the bowi is pot'celaJn enameled Iron. and the cabinet is W1lnut wood decorated in the

" Easdake" style. A lavatory mounted on the

wall In a bedroom, 'rom a

"06 ad for Standard Sanitary Mfa. Co. The ad copy proc:lJims the elimilU.tion of the "unsi,tldy wash stand." A pedestal base with wide coolOle top. as ,un In J 1924 Standard Sanitary Mf,. Co, ad, A 19S4 Jd (or "Panelyt.e." a IJminated panel. shows how the lavatory reven, to the cabinetry and bowt·sunk·intocount.en.op typology (rom Wh ich It evolved. The ideal 0' the seamfess bathroom l.ntel"lor Is here achieved In shHt 'orm rather th~n tile.

AL Ie Lr re

~

II k be sc r

9

II

The Bathtub

Although the bathtub has taken many sizes and shapes, from shallow. lightweight metal "saucer" baths to massive wooden boxes lined with sheet lead, the decisive factor in the development of the modem bathtub has been the finish of its interior surfaces: the point of contact between the skin of the bather and the skin of the appliance. 1n the mid-nineteenth century, lead, copper, and zinc linings prevailed, yet their easily damaged surfaces required intensive maintenance (Stone 286). British craftsmen succeeded in producing solid porceJain bathtubs, whose surfaces offered a smoothness comparable to marble; their fragility and weight, however, made them an expensive import item. Cast-iron bathtubs were manufactured in the 1870S, follOwing the use of cast-iron for Javatories, and became the major bathtub type by the 1880s. The tubs were painted on the interior with white lead (initiating a long-lasting shift towards whiteness), or finished with enameled and galvanized coatings (Stone 286). Massproduction techniques in the 1920S reduced by nearly 2.0'}6 the cost of double-shell cast-iron tubs with porcelain enamel finish , bringing the bathtub to a broader public (Glassberg ,8; Gieclion 703). Like the toilet and lavatory, the bathtub moved from furniture to fixture, passing through ornamental to exposed states_More than any other appliance, the tub has determined the size and design of the bathroom: the gradual abolition of the tub raised on legs in favor of one that hugs th.e walls and floor encouraged the standardization of a five-foot recessed bay (Winkler 8). Top left. a porcelaln.llned Qst·lron

~thtub

offued by the

J.l . Mott Iron Works In their 1888 cUllolue.

A cast-iron bathtub with porcelain enamel Wlsidt: as well as out. as shown in I 1910 Nadonal Sanitll"y Manur.cwrlr'\C Company

cata~&ue..

A 191 I Trenton POtteries Company ad shows a tub with an enclosed bue, abuttina one w.1I. Footed bathtubs

b.,an to be cridciud for the difftculd.J they posed In dunlnc behind and underneath their low forms. In 19 11 Kohler Inuoduced a bollt..ln bathtub cast as a continuous form . "8uUt·lns" had previousty been accomplished by dlif'11 the front of a reces"d bay. or weldi", a '.~nt.ely.c:ut "apron" to the upper tdae of the tub. Th. Kohler d."a" InttVated tM ~on as part of the tub and set a sundard for the industry.

30

AL

Lr

rc

r

Ik

be s

r

r

I

n III

The Built-In Shower and Bath Ensemble: The Seamless Enclosure

When a turn-of-the-century home had a shower. it typically was located next to the bathtub. Along with the sitz bath. foot bath. and bidet. the shower was used in wealthier homes for specialized bathing tasks. rather than as a daily alternative to the tub bath. The shower routinely was linked to male use: referred to as the "rain bath" or the "morning bracer: the force and athleticism of the shower was seen as incompatible with female grooming rituals. With the growing standardization of the recessed bathtub in the late teens and early twenties. the shower became more generalized and widespread. displacing the tub in many homes with space limitations. The consolidation of the shower with the tub encouraged the complete integration of bath.i ng equipment and its surrounding architecture. A House and Garden writer in 1922 advised careful planning. since "bathroom equipment becomes a part of the very construction of the house."" Tiled floors and walls created a seamless. water-proof environment for showering. By 1905 there are references to ·cove base" or "hospital" tiles for bathrooms. whose curved Iransition between right angles allows water to run-off rather than collect in seams and comers: this gelIll- and water-proof environment "could be quite safely flushed out with a hose. "I) The recessed bath and shower ensemble encouraged the glove like fit of all bathroom equipment and accessories: in 1931 Vogue commented: "Nowadays ...everything (is) recessed, concealed. smoothed away, a.n d our bathroom walls are honeycombed with .excavations for various gadgets instead of being spiky with things that jut out of them" (Hardyment 103). ri,~'It.

11. Mal)' Fanion

Top

Roben •. ~lr You Art Coin81O

side the bathtub as an Independent unit. N ..dle-.baths such as the one shown In this Standard Saniury Mfl_ Co.

Build. ~ HOU$f!""" Gank" Vol. XLI

ad (rom 191 I were usodated with a th.~p.utk function;

No. 6 (lune J9,u).

76· I}.

Char'ln ,lJTIC'S

Fox. PhD. ~UP.lo­ Date 8.1throoms. ~ HOWie QM CGrrk,. VoIXIl

oJ

(Xpkmbc:o:r 1907': 119- 12.2.

,

earl)' In the cenlury the shawf!r stands 31onl-

thus the shower and bath were not seen IS redundant. Such hclllties would equip wulthy hom.s: mlddle-dau

dwellin,:s typically had baths with shower :utlchments. Middle. in this 1912 ad for Standard Sa.niury Mf,. Co.. the rescaJe d'Wftlings ha"ft attempted 10 int~nte largt: bathrooms into the public living ~nd I'KfUtion.a1

.oand.ud.

This 6-x-7-foot bathroomwu advised u the

minimal siD: for ..rvana' quarterl

In Vollmer', 8oH: o( Oistinctt~ Interiots. 19 11.

..... of Iht bome. s.. Elilabtlh

Rudulph. ~Comfort.l.blt' Stations." n"" (Decuubcr ,0, 199 1); 79; lCI!ph Ciovannini, •A Combination Cym and Bath. 1be ulHt in Home ArMnitks.· Tht IV... Yori; T_ (Ibuncby. Imuary ' j. 1!)86): ct. c6: and 8ul, RusscU.

· PooI·Bathroom Silopa Up as ,ho New Amenity; 1M New Yori: Iima (Ibuncby. M.ro. 17. 1!)8.): " . 08.

r rce t'

beset' r

C.

("at n III

Prefabrication

The recessed bay of the tub and shower, as weU as the determination of the minimal bathroom plan, encouraged designers to think of the bathroom as one large watersupplied appliance. Since a single manufacturer typkaUy made aU three pieces of bathroom equipment-toilet, sink, and bathtu\>--.and since the interior of the bathroom entailed the creation of water-proof waus, it was logical to think of the entire room as a unit that could be mass-produced and instaUed on-site. SociaUy-minded proposals throughout the 193os-notably R. Buc1aninster Fuller's 1938 prefabricated bathroom conceived of the bathroom as a large scale appliance whose elements were stamped out of a continuous piece of material. I8 Several prototypes of Fuller's five-by-five prefabricated bathroom were built (the architect Richard N~utra instaUed one in his otherwise deluxe Brown House of (938), but the project was commercially unsuccessful. Such plans failed to take hold in the '930S and 40S for several reasons. Giedion has criticized the attempt to translate the architecturaUy fixed, integrated bathroom into a movable appliance, as well as the use of metal rather than time-tested china and porcelain (7U). Indeed, manufacturers have discovered that fixtures made of plastic rather than china are rejected by consumers. Furthel more, the construction industry contingent upon field erection and assembly- has resisted prefabrication. As A1exande.r Kira has noted, "With few exceptions, the bathroom has rarely been conceived of as an entity, certainly not by the plumbing industry" (9). Moves towards an ecologkaUy and ergonomicaUy intelligent bathroom are on.ly now beginning to take shape. Above. the Bathr-oOtn Utility Wall. de.si,ned by Georae Sakler. 1917. This lavatory Wl$ one amo", ~ number ot attempts [0 produce equipment as an inte,ral part of the bathroom walls. Manufactured by the American Radiator ComPJny, It provlded stora,e tOf' linens as weU as a pbce to conceal the radiator and toiJet tank. It W'U part of a SYStem of interlockin, pan.ls 'or both the kitchen aM bathroom. '''Sanitation Equipment: lbthrooms and Kitchens." Architectural Record Vol 81 No. I Oanuary 1937): 45.

AboYe. the Pre.(o bricated 80th· room Nt Two Poru, by R. 8uckminner Full'r. The patent was filed In 1938. ,l'Mlted in 19-40. 18. FuUer'. design was initiated in 19}0 ~nd originally spon. SClr~

by A.merian

Su:nd.a.rd ~nd the Pbriciv. MIT Prell. 1986. HardYlllettt, Christine. From Ma+ to

Miuowove: n.c Mtdlaniz.ar. of Ho.Sd't ill Aii,.: 11te

MGkj"lond UnmGki", of'M World. New York: Oxford University PIUS . 198s. SchOnbergn Paul . '960.

lk«Iter: A Srudy In ~n OotmSlicity.

New Ha\'en: Yale Unhe:tsity Press. '97). Sparke, Penny. Eltarlt.al App'k1I1tts. Twc:",titth CenJwry Daip, New York: E. P. Dunon. (981.

Chamber pot dislulsed as a stack of books. fTc-neh . el,hteenth· eentury.

From Lawrence Wr,&ht, Oeon ond DecenL

Al.tCl.r _ ccrtelilk bcscrcr'llClI" atenaal