unit-code
The Women’s Safety Centre is a community hub staffed exclusively by women, with an embedded ceramic studio. Informed by the history of public urinals in Paris, the project asks whether the flâneuse, the wandering woman of the 19th century, imagined as the counterpart to the male flâneur, was ever truly permitted to exist. It responds by reimagining Montparnasse, in the south of Paris, as a feminist city, starting with the intimacy of a toilet stall. Its spatial logic follows a new ecological toilet system, using exhaust kiln heat to incinerate waste and rainwater for wet flushes, fostering a more conscious relationship with water. Every surface of the building, including the roof, is designed to collect rain. The ceramic studio specialises in the continual design and redesign of toilets, by women, for women, through iterative making. By designing from the toilets outward, the project imagines a city where women are not watched but watching, where the flâneuse walks freely, especially at night.
The flâneuse uses the toilets designed for both standing and semi-squat postures. Shared sinks, sheer curtains, and visible cisterns foster ritual and community, lighting signals when to flush or burn, linking water use to design.
From the flâneuse’s gaze, the workshop is a site of empowerment, where women design, build, and refine toilets for themselves. Each iteration is a radical act, equipping her with tools to reclaim space, one intervention at a time.
Ceramic paving extends from the toilet into the street, guiding the flâneuse toward the entrance. Designed from the toilet outward, it makes visible a new approach to reclaiming public space through sanitation.
The plan defines two circulations: one for the flâneuse, who wanders, observes, and moves around the building without entering; the other for users accessing the centre’s public and staff facilities.
The section shows how the flâneuse moves vertically through the building via a dedicated lift that acts as a beacon of safety at night, giving her discreet access to the toilet network across levels.