I never wanted to be that guy, but there I was, in the public restroom with my digital camera. But the cause was good. Inspired by the Pulitemporary’s toilet talk, I wanted to make you privy (bad pun) to a recent accolade. Restroom Ratings gave the Walker’s bathrooms a 9 on their 10-point scale. What’s curious is that when the review came out in June, our score was a notch or two lower, and the review didn’t include the new Herzog & de Meuron-designed bathrooms in the expansion. Today’s rating is higher and mentions the new loos.
The new bathroom’s “Apple-meets-World Dryer Corp” aesthetic is described thusly: “The sleek black restrooms…with floor-to-ceiling stall doors of sleek white… are reminiscent of a first-generation iPod… And the lighting is, as it should be in a good rest room, dim enough as to not see too many details--a unique counterbalance to the bright, stark galleries.”
It’s good news, because six years have passed since our bathrooms got their last rave review: in 1999, the Cowles Conservatory in the Walker-run Minneapolis Sculpture Garden won Best Public Restroom in City Pages‘ “Best of the Twin Cities” issue.
Drop by and try them, won’t you?