The Soft System
Designed by: Peter Valois
Pratt Institute Industrial Design Department
Coventry, RI, USA

What is it?
A system of bathroom products that include a sink, a storage system, and a toothbrush.

What makes this design different or better?
Bathrooms of small urban apartments are no more than machines designed to systematically eliminate our odors and wastes. Purposefully clinical in their appearance, these bathrooms aim to remove us from the dirtier aspects of our bodies by denaturalizing the biological processes that occur inside. Such bathrooms are not only cold, hard, and uncomfortable, but also create a psychological rift between our minds and our bodies. This division is severing us from an innate understanding of our bodies and our place in the ecosystem.

The Soft System is a group of three bathroom products that bring comfort and nature into the urban bathroom. The system includes a sink, a storage system intended as a replacement for the medicine cabinet, and a toothbrush. In keeping with the bathroom’s inherent wetness, I drew upon aquatic flora and fauna for inspiration. The marsh is an example of an ecosystem where the creatures within depend on each other for survival. Every creature in the marsh has an innate understanding of the balance and harmony that sustains their community. This sense of place and inherent understanding must be brought to urban living.

Judges commentary:
Gareth: I loved the organic feel of these fixtures and the unique way of twisting the sink to stop it up and the control of the hot and cold water through crimping soft tubing. A refreshing way of rethinking age-old plumbing technology.

Ayse: What I love about this idea is its use of soft materials not for the sake of change, but because it comes up with novel ways to make the soft choice functional. The soft sink twists to open and close the drain, and when closed it looks like a belly button. The hot and water supply is regulated by crimping the soft tubes that carry the water to the spout. Very intuitive and ingenious.

Alberto: The biomorphic qualities of this aesthetic charmed me. I liked the way that crimps were used instead of valves, and how flexible membranes supplanted hard surfaces.