Kiosks And Public Toilets / LANZA Atelier

Architects: LANZA Atelier
Year: 2015
Photography: Camila Cossio
Manufacturers: Baumracks, Cementos Moctezuma
Materials: Concrete blocks, steel sheet walls painted white, glass, vegetation, bamboo
Location: Ecatepec de Morelos
Country: Mexico

The project by LANZA Atelier develops a series of kiosks and public toilet modules along a bicycle track in Ecatepec, Estado de México, conceived as a low-cost strategy for improving civic infrastructure within a dense and underserved urban context. Rather than functioning as isolated service points, the intervention establishes a distributed system of small-scale public spaces that collectively support movement, rest, and social interaction. The design is driven by principles of modularity, permeability, and environmental integration, using economical materials such as concrete blocks and steel sheet to achieve durability and efficiency. Spatial configurations incorporate courtyards, voids, and planted areas that regulate light, ventilation, and temperature, while vegetation is embedded into the architectural logic to create shaded and more comfortable microclimates. Through repetition and variation, the project forms a continuous infrastructural landscape that redefines basic public amenities as spatial and environmental devices within the urban fabric.

As architects, we should be able to build less and simpler.
Interview with Isabel Abascal and Alessandro Arienzo of LANZA atelier

Kiosks and public toilets / lanza atelier

Commissioned as part of infrastructure works along Av. Central in Ecatepec, the project reframes essential public amenities as an integrated system within the bicycle corridor. LANZA Atelier approaches kiosks and toilets not as isolated objects, but as interconnected elements that contribute to a broader spatial and social framework along the route.

The intervention is organized through repetition, consisting of three toilet modules and thirteen pairs of kiosks distributed along the bicycle track. This arrangement establishes a consistent rhythm that accompanies movement while ensuring accessibility at regular intervals. Each unit participates in a continuous field condition, reinforcing the perception of a unified infrastructural system.

Material strategy is grounded in economy and clarity, employing concrete blocks and painted steel sheet as primary construction elements. These choices enable efficient assembly while defining a restrained architectural expression. Within this simplicity, spatial richness emerges through the careful placement of openings, voids, and integrated landscape features.

Kiosks are configured around central courtyards, often anchored by palm trees, with seating and table elements embedded directly into the blockwork. This arrangement fosters informal occupation and social interaction, transforming the structures into shaded gathering points. In the toilet modules, bamboo elements introduce visual permeability while organizing spaces, and shared sinks are positioned centrally to encourage collective use.

Across both typologies, the project dissolves conventional boundaries between interior and exterior, allowing air, light, and vegetation to permeate the architecture. This spatial ambiguity supports diverse patterns of use and reinforces the project’s role as a flexible civic framework, where modest architectural means generate a continuous and active public landscape.