CORE SUSTAINABLE UNIT /
DRY TOILET

Location: Caracas, Venezuela

Date: 2003

Client: La Vega Community / Ministry of Environment of Venezuela

 

 

The dry toilet project done together with Urban Think Tank’s artist in residency program Caracas Case represent the synthesis of working to bring together infrastructure with design.

 

With the dry toilet, the precious water available in the barrio is not flushed away, sewage and sanitation difficulties are avoided, urban agriculture is bolstered, resilience to environmental change grows, and ultimately, the design is applied in a self-initiated and self-sustaining manner.

 

Everyday amenities become intangible luxury items in barrios and slums excluded from formalized city services. All components utilized in the barrio must meet certain requirements, they must be adaptable and functional despite lacking resources, and they must be fabricated, altered and maintained self sufficiently by the dwellers of the informal sector. Residents of the informal city do not have the luxury of passively waiting for crucial systems and infrastructural elements, such as sewage and sanitation, to be managed efficiently by a city department.