It is one of the most pressing environmental problems of our time and yet largely unknown: the pollution of our waters by nitrogen. The renowned Viennese design studio EOOS has developed the revolutionary prototype of a toilet for urine separation (urine trap), which offers a systemic design solution to fight the global nitrogen problem. The official Austrian contribution to the XXII Triennale di Milano presents the urine trap in a flush toilet developed together with the Swiss ceramics manufacturer LAUFEN, and embedded in a multimedia installation (by Process Studio, Vienna, with a light display by Zumtobel) that illustrates the ecological interaction of coastal waters, sewage systems and agriculture. The EOOS exhibition shows the contribution the urine separation toilet can make to the repair of the nitrogen cycle and thus to the preservation of the ecological boundaries of our planet.

The project is based on research by Eawag, the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and EOOS is responsible for the design of the urine trap. As an internationally active design studio working for brands such as Adidas, Armani, bulthaup, Walter Knoll, LAUFEN, Herman Miller, Zumtobel, i.a., EOOS has been dedicated to projects in social and sustainable design since several years. The Austrian contribution was commissioned by MAK – Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna and financed by the Federal Chancellery of Austria.