Public restrooms are rare — and the ones that do exist are rarely places of beauty. The Tokyo Toilet project is out to change that. Commissioning work from a roster of starchitects, the initiative (funded by the socially minded Nippon Foundation) has introduced 17 public toilets throughout the Japanese capital’s Shibuya district over the past three years.

Sou Fujimoto’s public restroom design for The Tokyo Toilet — one of 17 installed by the foundation in the city’s Shibuya district — includes private stalls and a sloped sink to accommodate everyone.

Unveiled this spring, the project’s latest outpost is a sinuous structure designed by Sou Fujimoto. After passing through an arched doorway, visitors enter an open-air hallway that positions gendered stalls on one side and a sculptural communal sink on the other. (A third, accessible unit complete with a change table is reached via a doorway at one end of the building.)

The slope of the basin (made of a steel skeleton covered in wire mesh and mortar) presents taps at two heights — one for standing adults and another for children or those in mobility devices — while a combination of inward- and outward-facing faucets allows passersby to quickly wash up or fill their water bottles. Adding to the spa-like experience, a circular cut-out makes space for a tree growing through. Far from being just a place to relieve yourself, the design is also a place of respite from the busy urban environment.