Off the Beaten Path

Over sixty million people visit New York State Parks every year. Designing buildings that accommodate such a large and diverse group of users is no simple task, especially when that building, more than most others, is responsible for some of society’s most controversial — and personal — functions. Over the past several years, working first on a series of designs for cabins and more recently on prototypes for “comfort stations” that feature public restrooms, Claire Weisz, together with her firm WXY, has sought to both imagine and execute spaces that are not only sustainably produced, efficiently maintained, and replicable across the system’s 180 parks, but that also more creatively address inclusivity, access, and gender diversity than such bathrooms typically have in the past. In this interview with representatives from the organizations QSPACE and QSAPP together with Intersections guest editor Jacob Moore, Weisz discusses the challenges of working on such a project, and how architecture can reinforce — or undermine — diversity in public.