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"Bathroom for Women designed by Paul Rudolph. All mirrors by the National Association of Mirror Manufacturers. Shampoo center by Kohler. Alcoves for Kohler toilet and bidet, private but open to nature. On the floor, a tiny lawn of mop heads. To right of bath, projection screen by Da-Lite." Color transparencies made for the February 1976 House & Garden article "Water: From its Swirling Source, Water Inspires Architect Paul Rudolph to Design Two Exciting and Prophetic Baths." (He also did a "Bathroom for Men.") View full size.
The full article is in this large pdf archive of Home and Garden - article starts on page 248. It has photos of both the women's and men's bathroom with accompanying text. The men's bathroom has copper sheathing for the walls, a hole in the floor with lights and a plexiglass cover to simulate a fire pit, and room to exercise or relax.
I must be in the minority because I think this bathroom is rather delightful. Would I pick it if I had enough money to design my dream home? No but I'd be interested enough to rent a BnB with it.
1) I assume in real life ( i.e. not a showcase ) there would be way to ensure privacy to the whole area. Just like now : I have a tub, shower and toilet in my bathroom and they all sit behind a door.
2) I love the plants although I agree with archfan that somebody else will have to clean the bathroom and take care of those plants.
3) The tub does not look dangerous to me. Maybe it's a question of perspective in the photo. If you look at it carefully, you can see it's raised from the floor. In fact it looks a good deal safer than some current tubs since you can sit on the edge and swing your legs around.
4) I can't locate the "shampoo center" but I assume that's why there is no shower. In those days for many older ladies the acts of cleaning your body ( bath ) and your hair (shampoo center) were separate. A shower that would put your hairdo at risk would be unwelcome. By 1976 this outlook was changing. "Wash and go" hair styles were gaining in popularity. But a wealthy woman might be more retro in her outlook.
5) The lounger is baffling to my modern sensibilities but I do know a phone in the bathroom was a status symbol then. So maybe it was meant to complement the phone beside it: so the woman of leisure could relax and talk to her psychic while her nails dried and her hair set.
6) I agree with archfan that the bidet and toilet are an impractical distance apart. I have to assume Mr. Rudolph never used a bidet. But like the phone it was a status symbol of the time ( "so European!" ) so maybe that forced it's inclusion.
7) I too am dying to see the "Bathroom for Men"! I bet there's a shower and no bath. I hope there's a barber chair there to act as the foil to the "shampoo center".
If I suffered a slip-n-fall in that bathroom, I don't think I'd get out alive. It's as if the whole concept of aging never crossed Mr. Rudolph's mind.
... if you would feel comfortable using that exposed throne and bidet!
Good, checking Shorpy on the big screen while relaxing in the lavatory. Bad, carpeting. Sooo much carpeting.
Another reason, if one were needed, to consign the seventies to History's dustbin.
must have something to do with irrigating all the plants hanging in the rafters which would otherwise be difficult to reach. Anyway, I heard Kubrick had 12 of these bathrooms made for "2001 A Space Odyssey" but later had them scrapped because they were the wrong color.
A little while ago I firmly set against Dr. Kline's 'tacky' basement bar. Now, I think I have found a use for it. I'd need a stiff drink after seeing this aberration of a bathroom. The only way it could have been more wrong is if it were even bigger!
Here is a biography and photographs of Paul Rudolph's work. It's very modern and brutalist. You'll see in his office photos he liked hanging vegetation. Maybe all that open flowing water was supposed to make the bathroom nice and steamy for the plants and madam's complexation. The projection screen is way ahead of its time. The absence of a shower is way behind. I question the ease with which madam could get in and out of that tub, especially if she was over the age of 40. The lounge above the tub is so Fifi will have a place to perch and watch the action below. Mr. Rudolph may have had a great talent, but it was not for designing bathrooms.
Having said all that -- if Paul Rudolph also designed a bathroom for men ... I'm interested in seeing it. Call it morbid curiosity.
I have comments:
1. This is a bathroom for folks with a spare acre of space in their house.
2. This is a bathroom for folks who do not clean their own bathroom.
3. There is a reason the bidet is next to the toilet nearly everywhere. That's a long waddle over to the other side of the room.
4. I finally spotted the bathtub. Open to nature, I guess.
5. Is that a chaise lounge, or a water slide?
6. Presumably the metal tubes send liquid down into the troughs to form a room-wide moat. Unless that liquid has a high concentration of bleach or borax, then the nature you will be open to includes molds and mildews.
I might have thought the biggest supplier of mirrors in that era was Tony Montana, but then what do I know: I didn't frequent the women's room in 1976, nor have I since.
Mr. Rudolph must have been off his meds to come up with that motion-sickness-inducing concept. But I have that same bottle of Halston.
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