page_title: Public toilet
section_title: Graffiti and street art
hierarchical_section_title: Public toilet / Society and culture / Graffiti and street art
caption_attribution_description: ציור גרפיטי על גבי מבנה שירותים ציבוריים בבת-ים, ישראל צולם ע"י זיו מזרחי ב-13.01.2007
context_page_description: A public toilet is a room or small building with toilets and sinks that does not belong to a particular household. Rather, the toilet is available for use by the general public, customers, travellers, employees of a business, school pupils, prisoners etc. Public toilets are commonly separated into male and female facilities, although some are unisex, especially for small or single-occupancy public toilets. Increasingly, public toilets are accessible to people with disabilities. Public toilets are known by many other names depending on the country. Examples are: restroom, bathroom, men's room, women's room in the US, washroom in Canada, and toilets, lavatories, water closet, ladies and gents in Europe. In some parts of the world, they are referred to as the loo.
  Some public toilets are free of charge while others charge a fee. In the latter case they are also called pay toilets and sometimes have a charging turnstile.
  Local authorities or commercial businesses may provide public toilet facilities. Some are unattended while others are staffed by an attendant.
context_section_description: Public toilets have long been associated with graffiti, often of a transgressive, gossipy, or low-brow humorous nature (cf. toilet humour). The word latrinalia—from latrine (toilet) and -alia (a collection)—was coined to describe this kind of graffiti.  A famous example of such artwork was featured on the album cover of the satirical Tony Award Broadway musical Urinetown, using felt-tip pen scribblings.
  As graffiti merged into street art, so some public street-level toilets began to make a feature of their visibility. The Hundertwasser toilet block is a colourful example in Kawakawa, New Zealand, designed by an Austrian artist and viewed as a tourist draw in a small town.
caption: Graffiti at a toilet in Bat Yam, Israel.
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