Badeværelseskultur - en barriere for bæredygtig udvikling?

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tities that contribute to changes in the conditions for the development of
toilets. The two perspectives reflect different systemic views of toilet solutions,
and point to driving forces from different dimensions of the system.
One of the project’s basic ideas is to view the toilet’s potential future
development in light of the rationales and standards taking shape within
its systemic network.
The study is based on a range of methodological approaches to capture
both the general process over time and the more specific and contextual
connections in which current tendencies are formed. The primary methods
are literature studies of the technological development, a review of
the magazine ’Bo Bedre’ (Live Better), and six in-depth qualitative interviews.
The secondary methods are observations and analyses of statistical
material.
The macro-oriented study of the development of the water-flushing system
shows that a water-flushing ideal gradually developed that shaped
the dominant path of development. During this process, rationales of
cleanliness and hygiene became central. In the light of such rationales,
human urine and faeces became characterized as dangerous filth, which
it was necessary to control. This development was especially influenced
by a sanitary reform that gained momentum during the 18 th century and
promoted the idea of implementing a technique for handling these substances
within a closed centralized system. This centralized system presupposed
the implementation of water-flushing toilets, thus, supporting
a wide distribution of this technological artefact. This development not
only necessitated specific physical structures in society; it also contributed
to shaping specific ideas and rationales about how to handle and
associate with human urine and faeces. For example, the treatment of
these substances became imbued with symbolic meanings, such as the
perception of water as a means of cleansing, locking the door for privacy,
or using euphemisms to establish distance from the act of defecating.
This development is especially interesting, as it represents a selfreinforcing
process in that it furthers its own stability. Thus, the development
of the water-flushing system has been locked onto a specific
path determined by its development process, which has set specific conditions
for future development.
The micro-oriented study of the on-going development of Danish bathrooms
illustrates another, more dynamic type of process. In contrast with
the water-flushing system, the bathroom is currently characterized by
shifts in the rationales that dominate the meaning and design of the
room. Also in this room, the rationales of cleanliness and hygiene represent
an important element of development. In the beginning of the 1900s,
bathrooms were typically characterized by uniformity, influenced by
moral ideas of hygiene. However, this has changed in recent decades as
the design and use of bathrooms have come to represent a number of different
rationales. This suggests that the development of the bathroom is
not held in the same tight grip as the water-flushing system. The development
of the bathroom has been characterized by growing individual
interest in consumption, which has contributed to setting off a continuous
configuration process. Especially ideas of convenience and wellbeing
have become important guidelines for the meaning of bathrooms.
These ideas downplay notions of sterility. In this on-going reconfiguration,
the bathroom tends toward a kind of pleasure room, where a per-