Don’t let anyone tell you social media has gone down the drain.
It sounds like it could be an exhibition write-up: “An architectural celebration of the most elusive plumbing typology in Europe’s urban vernacular”. This text does not belong to the wall of an art gallery, however, but to the Instagram bio of @pissoir_ecke, a Berlin-based account dedicated to – you translated that right – corner urinals. From majestic Victorian plumbing to sketchy metal troughs, if it’s in a corner, it’s going on the grid.
As our world gets increasingly digital, I think it’s important for people to delve into the depths of a dank Kneipe and just piss.
To visit the account is to marvel at some of the most absurd uses of space known to man – three urinals mere centimetres from each other, a porcelain bowl that only looks accessible by standing sideways, a dubiously-placed drain. (“When two pissable walls meet, that’s a Pissoir Ecke,” one caption declares.)
In the four years that the account has been posting pissoirs, they’ve accumulated an impressive array from both the tiled nooks of Berlin and the far corners of the globe, capturing architecturally-notable toilets from the Paris Olympics to Oxford Street, London to Red Deer, Alberta – even a historical Pissoir Ecke from the ruins of Pompeii. With its tongue-in-cheek captions (“We call this one the Pissopticon”), this weird and wonderful corner of the internet has attracted a loyal fanbase.
But who is the mysterious toilet topographer? They prefer to remain unnamed, but the Clark Kent to @pissoir_ecke’s Superman is a Canada native who moved to Berlin in 2019 after graduating from architecture school, quickly fixing their academic eye on one of the city’s most beloved community spaces: Kneipe bathrooms. We tracked the elusive urinal hunter down to ask if they’ve truly cornered the market or are just taking the piss.
What inspired you to start the Instagram account? Was there a urinal that started it all?
It all started as a personal project, but quickly grew into something far more important: a community. Being in a new country, and recently removed from the discourse of architectural academia, I examined my new surroundings through a phenomenological lens, always considering how objects could be documented within a cohesive visual narrative.
That’s probably why I started taking photos of urinals. I think the specific urinal that started it all was at Misfit Bar in Kreuzberg. It made me think that corner urinals might be special, but it wasn’t until I saw a second one, at Das Gift in Neukölln, that I knew I had to take a photo and post it on the internet for everyone to see.
What is it that fascinates you specifically about corner urinals?
My favourite part is that you never know where they are going to be. You can’t just ask AI if the bar you’re going to has a Pissoir Ecke, you have to go find out. As our world gets increasingly digital, I think it’s important for people to delve into the depths of a dank Kneipe and just piss.
What’s the most ridiculous corner urinal that you’ve seen?
The one I posted from Bülow Kneipe really cracks me up. There’s just no reason to cram two Pissoirs into that space – but they did!
Do you think this project is particularly viable in Berlin? Why does it work well with a Berlin audience?
Well obviously the project is especially viable in Berlin due to the large number of Pissoir Eckes we have in this town. What I didn’t expect, and should have, is the Berlin audience’s infatuation with the project. We have some extremely loyal followers who aren’t even interested in architecture, or plumbing. I think they’re more interested in what goes down the drain. So yeah, Berlin is good for that.
Has this project, and the act of paying attention to ordinary things, changed the way you look at the city?
Absolutely! While normal people look around the city for new opportunities to eat small plates and drink natural wine, I look at every establishment and wonder about the spatial configuration of porcelain in their WC.
What’s the most challenging part of maintaining this little project? Are you posting as much as you hope to?
The most challenging part is also the most enjoyable part of the project: the hunt! As for the posting frequency, it’s actually organically dictated by the architecture, because we only post Pissoirs in Eckes, and we never post a Pissoir twice.
We can’t really talk about urinal art without referencing Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain (1917), the piece that sent the art world into a frenzy and started a conversation about what art actually is. Would you consider your project an artistic commentary in any way?
Marcel is definitely the granddaddy of urinal art. His genius to provoke the conversation about what art actually is may have inspired my own artistic commentary in some way. Similar to how Duchamp forced his audience to contemplate the difference between art and object, I like to let the community draw the line between regular Pissoirs and Pissoir Eckes.
I always poll the community before posting a subjectively-defined Ecke. Everyone’s Ecke is different. Some focus on the shape of the porcelain, while some only care about the angle of the wall. I am always wonderfully surprised by the discourse our community generates.
What’s the response been like on Instagram? Have you found a community of other urinal appreciators?
The response has been really positive! There is definitely a community of urinal appreciators out there. It’s really cool how people from all around the world have contributed. Some send me photos to post and some just tell me where Pissoir Eckes are so I have to go find them. Of course there’s also the crowd I mentioned earlier that is really into using the urinals. They like to engage with the account’s DMs. Sometimes with videos. Maybe I shouldn’t talk about that here?
Do you have a favourite piece of toilet graffiti?
Excuse me for tooting my own horn here, but it’s gotta be the official @pissoir_ecke stickers that I now find plastered to random toilets across Berlin. There’s nothing better than seeing one of those out in the wild.
Are you more drawn to using the corner urinal now? Do you have any philosophical theories about the psychology of people who choose them?
Yes, of course. Because of my work, I always pay my respects to the Ecke when the opportunity arises. For others though, I wouldn’t think too philosophically about it. I believe that human interaction with architecture is deterministic at its core, and that the Pissoir chooses you.
What’s next for the account?
We gotta keep searching the Kneipes of Berlin for that next Pissoir Ecke! And when I’m not photographing urinals I like to create content for my other Instagram account, @newmcworldorder – it’s a McDonald’s travel food blog.
- Follow @pissoir_ecke for more.
