{"schema":"https://ver.cy/schemas/card/1.0.0","id":"vr.tr.lavoir","code":"thing-q1690211","url":"https://ver.cy/models/thing/q1690211/","name":"lavoir","alternateNames":["klapphus","dhobi ghat","laundry boat"],"kind":"thing","status":"published","version":"0.2.0-wave.2","language":"en","classifiers":{"family":"Thing Registry","category":"Physical world and living systems","entryKind":"thing","plane":"PHY","domain":["PHY.BLT"],"industry":[],"navPath":"","tags":[],"facets":{}},"whatItIs":"A public place for washing clothes, typically a covered basin fed by a spring, stream or river with sloping stone edges for scrubbing, built in villages and towns across France and Europe from the eighteenth to early twentieth centuries and paralleled by laundry boats on rivers, Scandinavian washing houses and the dhobi ghats of South Asia where laundry is done at communal steps; lavoirs were centres of women social life and are now preserved as heritage.","purpose":"Let an agent explain lavoirs and comparable communal washing places, describe their construction and social history, identify preserved examples, and support heritage and local history questions.","scope":{"in":[],"out":[],"boundaries":[]},"distinguishingFeatures":["Water-fed basin","Sloping washing edges","Communal use","Heritage value"],"structure":{"bundles":[{"id":"understand","name":"Understand","description":"What a lavoir is.","layers":[{"id":"form","name":"Form","description":"Form and construction.","findings":[{"id":"form-finding","name":"Form","description":"Form.","questions":[{"text":"What is a lavoir, how was it built and fed with water, and how was it used?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Which entry fits a specific lavoir?","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"variants","name":"Variants","description":"Variants worldwide.","findings":[{"id":"variants-finding","name":"Variants","description":"Variants.","questions":[{"text":"How do laundry boats, Scandinavian washing houses and dhobi ghats compare with lavoirs?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which variant is meant?","kind":"boundary"}]}]}]},{"id":"history","name":"History","description":"Social history.","layers":[{"id":"social","name":"Social","description":"Social life.","findings":[{"id":"social-finding","name":"Social","description":"Social.","questions":[{"text":"What role did lavoirs play in women social life and village communication, according to historians?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits social history?","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"decline","name":"Decline","description":"Decline.","findings":[{"id":"decline-finding","name":"Decline","description":"Decline.","questions":[{"text":"Why did lavoirs fall out of use with piped water and washing machines?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which findings are contested?","kind":"boundary"}]}]}]},{"id":"heritage","name":"Heritage","description":"Preservation.","layers":[{"id":"preserve","name":"Preserve","description":"Preservation.","findings":[{"id":"preserve-finding","name":"Preserve","description":"Preservation.","questions":[{"text":"How are lavoirs restored and preserved, and which are notable examples?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits heritage conservation?","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"living","name":"Living","description":"Still in use.","findings":[{"id":"living-finding","name":"Living","description":"Living.","questions":[{"text":"Where are communal washing places such as dhobi ghats still in daily use, and what issues do workers face, with attribution?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Is the presentation respectful?","kind":"boundary"}]}]}]},{"id":"learn","name":"Learn","description":"Teaching.","layers":[{"id":"teach","name":"Teach","description":"Teaching.","findings":[{"id":"teach-finding","name":"Teach","description":"Teaching.","questions":[{"text":"How can lavoirs be used in teaching local and social history?","kind":"action"},{"text":"Which misconceptions arise?","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"resources","name":"Resources","description":"Resources.","findings":[{"id":"resources-finding","name":"Resources","description":"Resources.","questions":[{"text":"Which inventories and studies document lavoirs?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which references are standard?","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]}]},"agentConduct":{"may":["Explain lavoirs, their construction and social history.","Identify preserved examples from heritage sources.","Describe women's labour in washing places without romanticising it."],"mustNot":["Encourage damage to or removal of stones from lavoirs.","Advise drinking or bathing in lavoir water without testing.","Romanticise the hard labour of washerwomen.","Confuse lavoirs with bathhouses."],"requiresHuman":["Restoring or altering a protected lavoir."]},"ethics":{"considerations":["Lavoirs record the hard work of women; history should honour it.","Local heritage is fragile and irreplaceable."],"affectedParties":["Local communities","Heritage custodians","Visitors"]},"owners":{"steward":"The municipality or owner of the site; heritage authorities protect listed lavoirs.","roles":[],"masterSystems":["Heritage registers"]},"relations":[{"target":"Q3044808","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"Q811430","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"outbuilding","type":"related","note":"category"},{"target":"fixed construction","type":"related","note":"category"},{"target":"ditch","type":"related","note":"water channels feeding lavoirs"},{"target":"spa town","type":"related","note":"other water-based communal facilities"}],"interaction":{"identity":{"applicability":"required","items":["Vercy registry: vr.tr.lavoir","Wikidata: Q1690211 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1690211)"]},"properties":{"applicability":"required","items":["Basin length:  m - Measure the internal longitudinal extent of the washing basin.","Water depth:  m - Measure vertically from the basin floor to the water surface and record the observation location.","Washing edge slope:  degree - Measure the inclination of the scrubbing surface relative to horizontal.","Water inflow rate:  L/s - Measure incoming water volume per unit time under the recorded operating or seasonal conditions."]},"recognition":{"applicability":"required","items":["Communal basin for washing clothes","Village lavoirs, laundry boats, dhobi ghats","A bathhouse is for washing people; a fountain supplies drinking water","Covered stone basins beside water sources."]},"capabilities":{"applicability":"required","items":["explain the structure","describe social history","identify examples","support heritage questions"]},"hazards":{"applicability":"required","items":["Decay of unused structures","Romanticising hard labour","Confusing with bathhouses"]},"interfaces":{"applicability":"required","items":["Heritage protection for historic lavoirs","Water quality rules for washing places still in use","No regulation of the form"]},"context":{"applicability":"required","items":["Public washing places for laundry.","village lavoirs","urban and covered lavoirs","laundry boats","Scandinavian and other washing houses","dhobi ghats"]}},"sources":[{"title":"Wikidata item Q1690211: lavoir","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1690211","note":"identity and sense of the item"},{"title":"Wikipedia: Lavoir","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lavoir","note":"general description of the item"}],"openQuestions":["Should dhobi ghats be a separate entry?","How should heritage inventories be linked?","How should oral histories be linked?"],"resources":{"spec":"/models/things/publications/thing-q1690211/spec.json"},"provenance":{"origin":"thing registry research (pass 2)","builtFrom":["models/things/publications/thing-q1690211/spec.json"],"providers":["Claude"],"researchStatus":"unreviewed","generatedAt":"2026-09-12T06:00:47Z","builder":"tools/build_cards.py@1.0.0"},"completeness":{"sections":{"classifiers":"filled","whatItIs":"filled","purpose":"filled","distinguishingFeatures":"filled","structure":"filled","agentConduct":"filled","ethics":"filled","owners":"filled","relations":"filled","interaction.identity":"filled","interaction.properties":"filled","interaction.recognition":"filled","interaction.capabilities":"filled","interaction.hazards":"filled","interaction.interfaces":"filled","interaction.context":"filled","sources":"filled"},"notes":{"_gate":"Published through the thing publication gate 1.0 on 2026-10-07T10:10:26+00:00: completeness 1.00; sense: Wikidata description; 2 live sources; review by codex: pass"},"score":1.0}}