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Challenging Industrial Design Student Work: An All-Gender Urinal

Urin*alle

By Rain Noe - March 27

in design.edu

I think this project illustrates the difficulties of trying to reconcile industrial design with social issues. Called Urin*alle, it was done by Leonie Roth and Luisa Tschumi while studying Industrial Design at Switzerland's Basel Academy of Art and Design.

"Urin*alle is a waterless all-gender urinal that offers contactless use regardless of the genitalia."

"The conventional design of toilets and urinals is not ergonomically adapted to people with vulvas and makes it difficult or uncomfortable for them to use public sanitary facilities. Urinals convince with their simple design, which enables fast and contactless urination. They save a large amount of water and enable nutrient reclamation through the separated collection of urine."

"Following the principle "Form Follows Function," the design has been adapted in height, angle and shape to the needs and ergonomics of the users. The front part offers contactless urination for people with a vulva; for people with a penis, the back part is provided, which is based on conventional men's urinals."

"With its smooth ceramic surface, urin*alle operates without the need for water, and used toilet paper can be disposed of in a separate waste bin. This not only saves valuable water, the separate collection of urine enables recovery of the finite raw material phosphorus, nitrogen, and potassium, fundamental nutrients for plant growth. In addition, urin*alle requires significantly less care and maintenance than flush urinals."

?"Urin*alle is intended to complement and not replace existing sanitary facilities. This project stimulates socio-political discussions, makes a significant contribution to gender equality and helps saving resources."

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Dee An

8 months ago

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The advantage of male urinals is that they require no bulky privacy screens or cubicles between them. Unless a female user is happy to be seen pering by people of any gender, then this design does not save space.
So, if this design takes up more space than is necessary, it will mean fewer toilets and thus longer queues. Perhaps it is in these longer queues that people can have the 'socio-political discussions' that the designers want to 'stimulate'.

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Leandro Heck

8 months ago

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I have no clue why someone would need a universal urinal. The male version uses a lot less material and the female version is just the standard toilet. This uses more space than a toilet. It gives zero advantages here.

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Dee An

8 months ago

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I've been to a lot of festivals that pride themselves on inclusivity and diversity, and this group have been supplying female urinals to them for a few years now:
https://www.peequal.com/

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Barton Hays

8 months ago

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I think the point here is for design students to grapple with complicated issues. I doubt they are launching their IPO next week. I applaud the designers for applying a design process, doing the awkward work and carrying through to a solution - even if it is not "the" solution.

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Simon White

8 months ago

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This is a toilet. If a woman wants to use it she has to pull her pants down. A urinal is a small toilet without privacy. If you make it the same size as a toilet, you have a toilet. No woman will use this. I can see how this was arrived at, but someone needed to step back and say, "We just designed a toilet."

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david copeland

8 months ago

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Making women hover to use this I don't think solves the entire problem. Invariably, someone will sit on this which is not good sanitation practice, but is better on the knees over time!

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