Sketches

Friday 26 October 2012

Nearly extinct

Sometimes objects disappear from the public space without us realising it. Some 20 years ago you could find these kind of public urinals in most cities; I have seen them in Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Maastricht, Brussels. All gone as far as I know.
I was very surprised to find one in still in place, on the tiny marketsquare of this little town, Limbourg, in the Ardennes (Belgium). I can still remember that I used this urinal once, maybe 35 years ago. I was a teenager back then and I was on my way back from a biking trip to the Baraque Michel with a full bladder. Aren't we all full of useless memories.

8 comments:

Rodney van den Beemd said...

Inderdaad Rene, je ziet ze bijna nergens meer, maar deze heb je in ieder geval bijzonder mooi vereeuwigd!

Rene Fijten said...

Even bewaard voor het nageslacht. Bedankt voor je bezoek Rodney.

nico jamin said...

prachtig! Jeugdsentiment!

Rene Fijten said...

Inderdaad Nico. Zoals je ziet, de onderwerpenliggen op straat.

LuTi said...

nostalgie.....

goed gezien

Rene Fijten said...

Ik was tamelijk verbaasd dat ze nog bestonden. En hij werd nog gebruikt ook, tijdens het tekenen/schilderen was er een oudere man die het urinoir bezocht.

Anonymous said...

Interestingly, the city I live in, Portland Oregon, has just started installing these. I think there are 3 or 4 installed this year.

Rene Fijten said...

Thanks Bill. I will expect a painting of one of those Portland urinals of course!