Historical Overview
The concept of private bathrooms evolved from private bathing rituals and the decline of public baths, becoming more common in the 19th and 20th centuries with advancements in plumbing technology. The private bathroom became a standard for luxury and comfort.
Master bedrooms in their current concept spread as a result of the economic prosperity experienced by American society in the 1970s and 1980s.
“As women entered the workforce and the number of working couples increased, families earned more, owned more possessions, and needed more space. Gone were the prudish notions of the bathroom as a dirty place no one talked about; it was time for sunken bathtubs and flaunting luxury” (Source: Atlas Obscura)
However, isolating the bathroom and toilet from bedrooms and living areas in the home remains a common architectural and lifestyle principle in non-Western societies around the world, despite technological advancements and financial capability.
The Privy and Returning to the East
In recent years, we have begun to lean towards eliminating the idea of a bathroom inside the bedroom (master bedrooms) for several reasons.
In Eastern and Islamic architecture, the privy is completely isolated as it is a place of impurities, producing negative energy that affects human spirituality and surrounding rooms. This isolation also provides the user with very high privacy.
Since “cleanliness is part of faith,” it becomes psychologically and spiritually better to isolate it as much as possible from living areas, especially bedrooms.
Benefits of Shared Bathrooms
On the other hand, shared bathrooms have many important positive effects on family life. They teach family members to share and not be individualistic, strengthen family bonds, and build precious memories between them.
From an educational perspective, parents sharing a bathroom with children imposes a kind of indirect supervision on the children. It also teaches children to respect elders and teaches adults to appreciate the young. Additionally, it promotes respect for using shared spaces and tools outside the home.
Economically, everyone learns to conserve water and time. There are significant savings with shared bathrooms from the construction phase to usage, cleaning, maintenance, and renovation.
A Solution between Two or Three
As a compromise, one can resort to an old concept of dividing the shared bathroom into practical sections according to need.
It can be divided into areas:
- Sink area, where the sink and dressing area are located
- Shower and toilet area
The previous area can be separated into two parts
We believe this idea is a middle ground between the master bathroom and shared bathroom while providing the concept of isolation from bedrooms and the mentioned advantages.
