Designing comfort stations to accommodate more than 60 million annual New York State Parks visitors — representing many different genders, backgrounds, and accessibility needs — is no simple task.
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.
FULL STORY: Off the Beaten Path

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Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Ken Jennings Launches Transit Web Series
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Congress Moves to End Reconnecting Communities and Related Grants
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From Throughway to Public Space: Taking Back the American Street
How the Covid-19 pandemic taught us new ways to reclaim city streets from cars.
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This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
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