2015
The PPlanter is a public urinal that uses modular biofilters (microorganisms and plants) to treat urine and wastewater. A rapidly deployable, light infrastructure model, it requires no utility connections and can be easily relocated to meet the community’s changing needs. The PPlanter was designed for San Francisco, the city with the most billionaires per capita, where thousands of people experience homelessness and lack access to restrooms.
The plate steel structure unfolds into a working diagram of the processes it accommodates: a grid of containers house wetland plants that incrementally evapotranspire liquids and, in consort with microbes, consume nutrients. The living plants create a microclimate and a visual screen, while their growth acts as a visual indicator of the human participation that ensures their survival.
PPlanter is part of an ongoing research project made possible with the support of many volunteers and organizations including Urban Biofilter, The Hyphae Design Lab, The Luggage Store Gallery, and The Seed Foundation. The design of PPlanter 3.0 (pictured here) was led by Marisha Farnsworth with support from Brent Bucknum and Graham Prentice for Urban Biofilter. The project team included Paul Troutman, Anastasia Victor, Gino Orlando, Meg Prier, Bobby Glass, and Sydney Moss.
Photos by Anastasia Victor