The next post relevant to my research on food markets will be up shortly.  In the mean time, I recently received an email from friends at Hyphae Design Labratory in Oakland, which is more than worth sharing.  The design lab has been selected to participate in the San Francisco Urban Prototyping festival this month, with an urban 'furniture' prototype they've dubbed, the PPlanter. 

Film still from Hyphae Design Lab's PPlanter promo

According to Hyphae, "PPlanter is a rapidly deployable, reconfigurable public urinal and sink that uses modular biofilters to treat urine and wastewater. A network of sensors for automated monitoring and a responsive web application enable public feedback and participation in the design of future iterations." 

Check out their indiegogo page here, for more info or to make a donation to the project.

If you've frequented your share of music festivals, you might recognize a trend.  Following  Aandeboom's P-tree, which "augmented the landscape" at European festivals Roskilde and Mysteryland last summer, the PPlanter, like Danish company PeeBetter, takes the concept into public urban space, makes it unisex, and tops it all off with a proposed iPhone app.  It sure beats holding it. 

Ptree by Aandeboom, at Roskilde Festival 2011 (it returned thanks to popular demand in 2012)