Big date? Important interview? There are times when you might like to check your appearance (just a quick glance of course) prior to reaching your destination. With few public bathrooms – and the stench that awaits when they do exist – we’d all appreciate an alternative option. And so thought Swiss designer Nicholas Le Moigne.

Fountin Mirror. Designed by Nicolas Le Moigne.

“These days, a fountain no longer really serves any useful purpose beyond its decorative appearance. Here, a mirror permits it to be transformed into an outdoor bathroom.” While I wouldn’t propose placing these on the Trevi fountain, there are unsightly fountains in existence that stand to benefit from this idea. Rather than a ‘decorative feature’ turned eyesore over time – it emerges as a useful place to freshen up.

I’ll admit I’m a bit leery.  My own bathroom mirror needs frequent cleaning in order to look good. And, given the bad luck that broken mirrors supposedly bring, public mirrors that exist outside could bring some awful karma. Regardless: it’s clever either way.

The mirror was realized with INOUT, a promotional platform (in Lausanne, Switzerland) bringing young creative people together by means of exhibitions, publications and productions. “The INOUT platform aims to play the role of a catalyst, offering young professionals who have already distinguished themselves through their work, a structure devised in such a way that one can enter it (IN) or leave it (OUT) without affecting the dynamics of the group. Its configuration will differ every time and it will be supplemented as required, depending on the particular project, by bringing in new elements.”

Nicolas le moigne won the designboom MACEF competition ‘RE-think and REcycle’ in 2005
with ‘watering can‘ – later changed to ‘twist & spout’ and unveiled at the ICFF designboom mart in new york in 2005.

via designboom.