The Toilet Papers

Abstract

Architecture serves as a primary vessel for the enforcement of social and biological norms, yet it often operates through a masculine logic that neglects the lived experience of the female body. Nowhere is this more evident than in the public restroom, a space governed by antiquated building codes and rigid binaries. This thesis investigates how the design of men's and women's restrooms at interstate truck stops can be restructured to move beyond these inequitable standards. By integrating sex-specific anthropometric data, material specifications that account for spatial experience, and a fluid approach to spatial boundaries, architecture becomes a tool for gender equity. In "Architecture from Without", Diana Agrest argues that the traditional city is a product of a masculine symbolic order, creating an architectural language that often excludes the "other." To reconcile this, The Toilet Papers utilizes a feminine theoretical viewpoint to challenge the normative spatial binaries of the highway rest stop. By applying this lens to the mountains of Virginia, the restroom is transformed from a utilitarian facility into a restorative sanctuary. The resulting design proves that when architecture acknowledges the anatomical and social complexities of the female experience, it ceases to be a site of vulnerability and becomes a site of dignity.