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Comment by trhway | Hacker News Reader

The world makes full circle. A 4-toilet (2 facing the other 2 for lively conversation) bathroom per floor, no walls whatsoever between the toilets, "open layout" so to speak, in our dormitory in high school (regional school for advanced science studies) in USSR in 80-ies come to mind. Looks like we were living the boutiquey avant-garde way of the future :)

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Sounds like the various RAF bases I did stints at as a cadet - the ablutions were just a great big room full of loos, showers, and bathtubs, all with dark brown water, and absolutely zero privacy of any variety.

The exposed loos were a novelty for me, at school we at least had shoulder height partitions - but we had communal showers and baths so it wasn’t a huge leap.

I also spent a year or so living in a studio where the loo was in the kitchen area - we at least installed a curtain.

Kitchen-loo must be illegal these days - I think rentals need to have 2 doors between the two. Did it seem reasonable at the time?!

I would suspect that this is highly jurisdiction-dependent. Around here (random EU country), it would instantly make all studio flats unrentable, so I don’t think that’s the case. Most of them have a bathroom door, though.

I just recently(september) saw a sale advertisement for loo/bathroom-kitchen... With only small not full height partition next to seat...

> but we had communal showers and baths so it wasn’t a huge leap.

I dunno, I've no problem with communal showers, or nudity in general, but partition-less toilets feels like a bridge too far.

Growing up in West Virginia, I was in a moderately sized city (40k people) but when traveling to smaller high schools for football games, you'd often find a shared latrine as the bathroom, and everyone who needed to pee would just crowd around a long sink thing and just let 'er rip. No idea what it was like in the ladies'

Open troughs are fine, toilets facing each other with no partitions is a bit far. I grew up rural but not that rural.

> RAF

On a trip I took with my father-in-law, the first morning he waltzed right into the little hotel room bathroom while I was showering (in a glass shower) and proceeded to sit on the throne and take a crap. I was confused at his lack of basic respect for privacy, and then remembered he'd been a US Navy guy for many years. Military folks just get used to no privacy in such matters.

Seeing it was advanced science, authorities wanted to add venues to encourage constant communication and collaboration. Always working for the people and the state! No time wasted.

We pretend to shit and they pretend to pay us

This is similar to the arrangements of public toilets in ancient Rome, except for them the seats are arrangemed in a circle. Everything old is new again.

Had two toilets in my flat only parted with a thin wood wall. Better talking with another one that is shitting than playing on the smartphone.

They had built some of those for the Olympics in Sochi, if memory serves.. :-)

> 80-ies

eighty...ies? eightieies? why not just "80s"?

English is not their first language so please give them a break ;)

Edit: I realize you are probably trying to help them learn. Carry on.

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