Toilet Tuesday: PooPooPaper

This is the first ever Toilet Tuesday!! Rejoice and be glad. It is a weekly (or attempt at weekly) spot on The Acrapolis for toilet innovation and news. Today's focus is PooPooPaper, which is exactly what you are thinking, and yes apparently it is possible.

"We are number one at number two". I know exactly how this company feels. PooPooPaper is a sustainable paper producer that makes it products from elephant poo. As you might think, elephants have a very fibrous diet which makes for great paper making dung. I think William McDonough would be very proud, it is a very Cradle to Cradle business venture. Check out their website, its has some really great stuff. I think there next product should be toilet paper, how could you complete the cycle any more!

Helsinki, Finland: Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art

Since we are on Finland Tour 2010, we naturally will start in its capital and largest city, HELSINKI!!! A wonderful city that is surprisingly only 190 miles west of St. Petersburg, Russia. You wouldn't necessarily think that right away but after touring the city you can sense a "sovietness" to it. The city is full of great design and designers and as such is one of Scandanavia's stylish meccas.

The name for the museum "kiasma" is a Finnish translation for "chiasma" which is often used in biology and anatomy meaning a crossing, like that of the optic nerves at the base of the brain. Such a definition gives light to the design, specifically the many floating bands of egress. The building is surrounding by many great works of architecture design mostly by Nordic architects such as Eliel Saarinen's Helsinki Station to the east, and Alvar Aalto's Finlandia Hall to the north. Holl's design was picked through a design competition that was intended mostly for Scandinavian architects which caused some controversy.

The building is filled with soft light, many curved surfaces and large voids. It was completed in 1998 and is set on an important feature of the city, The Mannerheimintie, one of the main thoroughfares of Helsinki. This visit marked a special occasion because it was the first bathroom I occupied and took photos of. Documentation is a important feature of my difficult work. The lavatory (yes the lavatory, I am running out of synonyms for bathroom) was a single user type, which I saw a lot of overseas. I have to admit, it seemed as though an intern threw its design together at the last minute. It was small enough that I could make and wash my hands at the same time. It also did not include a window for a view or at the very least some natural ventilation. The most interesting part was the sink. It appeared to by a brushed bronze or copper and was covered in dents like it was made of rock or something. A pretty nice detail. If I had a ranking system, which is currently in the works so to speak, I would give it a 3 out of 5.

FINLAND!

The closest I have been to the North Pole was Finland. And since it is the holiday season I thought we'd travel there next...why not. Finland was full of firsts for me. Three of which all occurred at or around the same time. I am assuming the first was drinking several Karhu beers, Finland's most popular beer. I am assuming it is the most popular not for its taste or refined brewing process, but more likely because of the vicious looking bear on the can, which made it clear that if I didn't buy and thoroughly enjoy this beer, it would attack me. Second was experiencing Finland's national pastime, a oppressively hot sauna in the dense woods of Finland, followed by a naked plunge into a frozen pond......7 times. The third was warming up next to the fire over which I cooked and subsequently ate the world's most mythical meat, reindeer, which was delicious. Although, I couldn't help but feel like I was ruining Christmas somehow. The rest of the trip was full of other fun experiences both in and out of the bathroom.