What is it about the urinal that inspires so much creativity? The public fascination may have started in 1917, when Marcel Duchamp revolutionized the art world with a signed urinal on its side he named, “Fountain”.
Since then, the humble urinal has taken about every form imaginable; from ornate, to innovative, to downright scary. Here’s a list of the twelve most unique urinals we’ve seen over the years, and as plumbers, we’ve seen our share:
#12: Guitar Urinal
This electric guitar urinal, commissioned by Billboard Music Brasil, is hard to top. The pressure-sensitive strings play music while you go, and you can even download an “M-Pee-3” of your urinal masterpiece online afterwards.
#11: Horn Urinal
Encore! Here’s another music-inspired urinal out of a pub in Freiburg, Germany. These urinals were crafted from old tenor horns, but good luck getting a concerto out of them. The design has drawn a few complaints from music lovers, but we appreciate the humor and creativity.
#10: Ceramic Art Urinal
The Kohler Art Center out of Sheboygan, Wisconsin has some of the most beautiful urinals on Earth, but this one from artist Ann Agee takes the cake. Painted to look like ceramic dishware, this urinal is an ode to all things water.
#9: Guillotine Urinal
Here’s a urinal that will make you think twice before stepping up to it, let alone flushing. This foreboding guillotine urinal is located in Rheinfels Castle, Germany. As if you weren’t vulnerable enough in public restrooms…
#8: Shark Urinal
On the subject of scary but unique urinals, we give you the Shark urinal from the tourist pirate ship in sunny Puerto Vallarta!
#7: Venus Fly Trap Urinal
One more for the scary urinal files, behold the Venus Fly Trap urinal! This fully-functional beauty was crafted by San Francisco artist Clark Sorensen. With its sharps spikes and an asking price of $11,500, we sincerely hope this urinal is only used for decoration.
#6: Flower Urinals
You know, Clark Sorensen’s work is just too amazing for one entry. His company, Clarkmade, makes some of the most whimsical urinals in existence, and they’re all one-of-a-kind. On his work Clark says, “The contradiction of taking an unsightly urinal and transforming it into a graceful object like a flower or shell is a potent combination.”
#5: Planter Urinal
Another combination of nature and urinal, this photograph, titled “pisspots”, was taken by Alana Mandel at a university in Austin, Texas. Apparently this bathroom was converted from boy’s to girl’s, so instead of costly renovations, they turned the urinals into planters. Brilliant!
#4: Tree Urinals
We can’t find much information on this unique set of tree urinals except the location: a Hello Kitty theme park in (where else?) Tokyo, Japan. Personally, I find these guys creepier than the guillotine.
#3: Super Nintendo Urinal
This fully-functional, fantastically nerdy urinal is made entirely of old SNES game cartridges. If you wanted to make one yourself, the guys who thought it up have in-depth instructions on their blog.
#2: Glow-in-the-dark Urinal
Just when you thought you’d seen it all, a urinal that glows in the dark. This polyethylene beauty, called “illuminating gloo” was designed by Philip Watts and lit with LEDs. Check out their website for other styles and pricing.
#1: Color-changing Urinal
Our last entry is a bit of a mystery; what’s been dubbed the “Thermochromatic” urinal. Based on the image, it seems these urinals are covered with heat-sensitive panels that change colors as you go. But it seems impossible to find any other pictures or information regarding this urinal online, so it may not even exist. Even if it’s only legend, this urinal really gets the imagination…flowing.
