A mosdó egykor és ma

1^st Step:

Choose object and topic

We would have liked if visitors kind of “bump into” at least one of the five installation on one of the floors of the museum (the museum has four floors in total).

The new entrance of the museum in the so called King’s cellar leads the walking tourists and visitors from the reconstructed mediaeval garden into the museum. With the popular topic of former lavatory (which is also a question of today, because visitors would like to find it soon after entrancing the museum) we tried to catch the interest at the beginning, if they visit the museum from this direction.

The reconstruction of the medieval lavatory is an outstanding location to think about the habits of the people of the former royal palace.

2^nd Step:

Check technical preconditions

The mediaeval part of the palace was reconstructed in the 1960s and until this last restoration there have not happened any important renewal, so we needed to have all modern electronically conditions to be able to use the installation with the touch screen.

3^rd Step:

Cost estimates

The equipment had the price we needed but the programming needs more planning and practice for a detailed estimation of the costs.

4^th Step:

Create content

To define the content we consulted the curators of the exhibitions and the refurbishment of that part of the museum was a happy coincidence. We kept in mind the exhibition objects of this part of the museum and also consulted historians on the history of hygiene.

5^th Step:

Last corrections

The content had to be controlled also according to the behaviour of the visitors. We planned to lead them until the situation of today, so we needed to consider also the duration of the browsing at the touch screen.

6^th Step:

Implementation

The design of the installation matches with the used boxes and touch screen systems of the museum. The implementation happened parallel with the renewal of the space.

Ups & Downs

Ups

• The theme of the history of the toilet matches excellent with the topic of the permanent exhibition.
• Visitors like to run through the history of the bathroom.

Downs

• The touch screen system as all of such IT technologies are sensitive of behaviour of the visitors. Permanent control of the equipment is important to be able to have it in function.
• There is no “back” sign at the end so visitors find the entrance a little complicated.

Lessons learned

• It is necessary to implement the “back” possibility on the screen.

Feedbacks from visitors

• Visitors like the short history in pictures and short texts; they would appreciate to have the possibility to surf about it also in the exhibition.

UN Water: World Toilet Day

www.unwater.org/worldtoiletday/home/en/

World Toilet:

www.worldtoilet.org/

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Global Water, Sanitation & Hygiene

www.cdc.gov/healthywater/global/sanitation/

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation: Sustainable Sanitation Services

www.gatesfoundation.org/What-We-Do/Global-Development/Water-Sanitation-and-Hygiene

World Health Organization: Progress on drinking water and sanitation

www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/publications/2012/jmp_report/en/

The United Nations University: Sanitation as a Key to Global Health

www.inweh.unu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/2010_Sanitation_PolicyBrief.pdf

International Medical Corps: Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

www.internationalmedicalcorps.org/programs/water-sanitation-and-hygiene

UNDP: Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Portfolio

www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/Environment%20and%20Energy/Water%20and%20Ocean%20Governance/water_supply_and_sanitation/UNDP-WATER-SANITATION-AND-HYGIENE-PORTFOLIO-2012.pdf

US National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health: A natural history of hygiene

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2542893/

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies: Safe drinking water and improved sanitation: The key to long-term community health

www.ifrc.org/en/what-we-do/health/water-sanitation-and-hygiene-promotion/safe-drinking-water-and-improved-sanitation-the-key-to-long-term-community-health-68270/