Bathroom Sanitation System and Urban Life Fast Pace Term Paper

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History Of Sanitation

In our present lives, in hi-technology living spaces or homes, most of us spend our days indoors. Commonly, a home physically means an indoor place, inside space, a room, an apartment, a mobile home such as trailer or van or a structure that has a roof and walls strong enough to protect human beings from unpredictable danger such as intruders or natural disasters. The idea of constructing a shelter began with primitive people: "Many centuries ago man first began to gather raw materials and put them together to make shelter against the weather and the ravaging of beasts" (Allen 3).

We are born in a place called the hospital and may possibly die there one day. Most of us spend some time out of doors, for instance, walking from place to place, moving from air to ground or water transports, participating in special events such as concerts and sporting activities or spending time at the beach. Some operational activities still involve being outside, while indoor activities are increasing. When we travel, we say that we are going out, but cars, trains, buses, ships and airplanes are almost as completely enclosed as buildings. There are closed spaces that appear as a form of transporters, moving spaces that can carry people from place to place.

Deep in the suburbs, synthetic forests, living spaces or homes are extremely private environments. People desire to create pleasant surroundings. The enjoyable environment of the home can be divided for functionality into separate rooms: the bedroom, kitchen, dining room, living room and bathroom.

Think about the place in our homes that provides the most relaxation, privacy and personal pleasurable experience in which we can enjoy spending considerable time. In today's home, this might be the bathroom. Western traditions and culture have not made it easy for people to enjoy this private space. But times are changing, and the bathroom is finally being appreciated for personal experience. The current bath concept is a reflection of appreciation and a wonderful combination of the best of the cleansing world.

The bathroom in every home should be kept clean. However, research for this project indicates that there are many homes in which the tub is never washed after bathing. The person takes a bath, gets out, dresses and walks away, leaving the tub for someone else to clean.

As we know, the bathroom is a place where we perform many of our most personal rituals, from brushing to bathing to dressing, because the traditional home offers bathrooms with specific functions. However, social trends and culture have changed the behavior of bathing, because of limited space and the pace of urban life. Taking a shower is more common, and less time consuming. An innovator rethinks the products that we are familiar with in our daily lives and rebuilds these relationships with understanding.

Introduction

Most of the people in the cities are completely dependent on all kinds of jobs in the informal sector, which are often temporary and highly competitive. They have to survive on low incomes without any guarantees. People in contemporary society are dealing with tight schedules and unpredictable environments. They have left behind their toys and their childlike sense of wonder. Since the growth of telecommunication, information moves faster than people, who are left continually handling changing logistics.

Generally, the city has lost its place. It tends to be everywhere and nowhere. Living conditions in metropolitan areas are overcrowded. Moreover, the fast growing density of population has not only been affecting lifestyles but also facilities. People who live in metro areas become used to the way that the world is without awareness. Many people are living in single room apartments as small as eight or nine square meters of studio dimensions that they have to use as a combined living room, dining room and bedroom, depending on their personal space solution.

In the construction and space division process, architects previously planned and designed building environments that were expected to provide most of the necessities of human metabolism: clean air for breathing and clean water for drinking, food preparation, cleansing and elimination of waste.

Because the bodily process of discharging waste matter is one of the most important processes for human beings, the bathroom unit is automatically built and controlled by regulations and the use of space set off as a separately functioning unit. Interior designers have traditionally designed bathrooms by permanently installing the fundamental components such as the washbowl, the tub and the toilet in the limited space.

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As a result, the use of this space is unintentionally limited, as well, as a bathroom area.

However, bathroom design is undergoing considerable innovation these days. The most obvious reason is that the field of aesthetics itself has been transformed. My proposal pushes the function of the bathroom to a new extreme, allowing people, spaces, and domestic functions new potentials for hybrid activities. It takes into account the needs of people in the living space and adapts the bathroom to these needs.

I. A history of bathing

Water, whether it has a positive meaning because it provides sustenance or negative meaning because it can be very destructive, is the most basic element in the world of human beings. In ancient times, bathing was believed to be healthy and rejuvenating. It was considered as a special reward for heroes, warriors, gods and kings.

The first known bathtub was found in Greece in the great palace of Knossos, most likely built for the legendry King Minos around 1700 B.C. At that time, designers invented impressive technologies that provided water for the tub, including a system of interlocking terra-cotta pipes. Ancient medicine determined that physical exercise and bathing were not only a means to good health but they can be the way to support mind and body. Washing and bathing facilities were introduced in the Greek gymnasium, a place where people went to interact, discuss, cerebrate and relax. While the Greeks created the ritual of social bathing, the Romans created the thermae or giant baths that provided an important public service to the city (hygiene) as well as a space for socializing, political negotiating and business transactions. These thermae were so grand, that they had libraries, lecture halls, cult shrines and promenades like the Greek bathhouse.

In the fourth century A.D., Rome had hundreds of small public baths, magnificent thermae, and public fountains and cisterns (water tanks), as well as scores of private baths. The average Roman used three hundred gallons of water a day. This is nearly what an American family of four uses today. Though there were many baths that were exclusive, the majority of the small baths and thermae were open to anyone who paid the small entrance fee and some were even free.

The Romans made bathing more luxurious than any other culture at any other time. High ceilings were decorated with rich marble veneers. There were some silver basins and spigots (water faucets) and bronze fountainheads. It is no wonder that the typical Roman day included a visit to the public baths.

For a long time, women and men bathed separately. In Pompeii, the two sexes had completely separate facilities. But in Roman baths, the males and females did more than mix. One might say the baths did anything but keep the Roman Empire clean. Every culture has had its own methods of renewal. Before bathing, the ancient Greeks and Romans anointed their naked bodies with olive oil and dusted themselves with sand. Afterward, they rubbed the sand off, removing outer layers of dead skin, and then, using a strigil (a metal blade with a slight curve) scraped off the excess oil before rinsing with water.

During the Ottoman Empire, the Turks went to the public bath called the hamman, where the community gathered to clean, relax and gossip. In the eighteenth century, travelers to the Middle East rediscovered the Turkish baths. Lady Mary Montagu was the first Western woman who described the hamman as a: "floor composed of variously colored, grained, sized, and shaped marble slabs. Underneath the floor, the raised platform, and behind the walls are the hollow tiles of the heating system (Koren 44). In her letters she describes their magnificence: "To see so many fine women naked, in different postures, some in conversation, some working, others drinking coffee or eating sherbet, and many negligently lying on their cushions, while their slaves are employed braiding their hair in several pretty fancies" (Petzke 68). During the late 1800s and early 1900s in fashionable American households, portable tubs were becoming popular. By World War II, water heaters, built-in bathtubs and sinks encouraged bathing in every family. At that time, Proctor & Gamble launched an event called the "cleanliness crusade" to convince Americans that bathing daily was the right thing to do. Today, the average American bathes more than seven times a week. As noted, bathing has become nearly a national and universal ritual.

Throughout the classical period, bathing was thought to promote general good health and….....

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