Lucía Alfaro Valencia



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Welcome To The System

A cashless visit to the public toilet
Sound intervention in public space
2023


 Walk in Wedding, Berlin
February, 2023





In 2021, Berlin inaugurated 193 new public toilets, specially designed with inclusiveness for people with disabilities; according to their press release, “the ambitious programme for sanitation is now complete, and Berlin has the most modern public toilet system in Germany and one of the largest in Europe”. However, access to these toilets is limited to those who can pay for them. Right now, the only possible way to enter the bathrooms is to pay by credit card, the Berlin toilet app, or a smartphone with a contactless payment app. This policy excludes those who do not have access to the economic system, including, for example, people experiencing homelessness and undocumented people. 

The public infrastructure seems to be intentionally designed to exclude certain groups of individuals who do not conform to the standards of what is considered “modern” or “progressive” within the framework of capitalism. 

In this sound intervention, a motion-sensor-activated speaker installed inside public toilets plays short messages that invite visitors to reflect on the privileges of access to the economic system and the barriers that pay-to-use infrastructures impose on marginalised communities.

The intervention blends into the existing soundscape of the space—triggered immediately after the pre-recorded voice and elevator-style music that are part of the bathroom's original design. Without prior context, the added voice may go unnoticed, as it mimics the tone and rhythm of the official announcements, subtly disrupting the expected flow of automated messages.




Orient Station. Public Intervention on the postcolonial everyday
Leopoldplatz, Berlin
July, 2023