In the 19th century, the first experimental toilets were all more or less shaped like this. This is also the case for the model in the Royal Palace of Caserta in Maria Carolina of Habsburg-Lorraine’s bathroom: a wooden chair with a brass “toilet seat”.

Squat toilets were created by the Ottomans, and were later introduced in neighbouring countries as the empire expanded. Still widespread in Asia, it is perceived as old-fashioned in the West. Yet this “bowl-less”, floor-integrated toilet actually has several advantages: it is more respectful of human physiology - doesn’t it reflect the posture adopted by humans for millennia to pass stools? - it is also easier to clean. Conversely to conventional toilets, it does not have a siphon.

The most famous urinal in the history of art not only is the pioneer of readymades, but also represents a turning point in the evolution of contemporary art. Overturning common sense, legitimizing all kinds of taste, ironically mocking bourgeois taboos, Duchamp takes an abject object, usually relegated to the most private and invisible corners, and turns it into a museum piece. The urinal, presented on its back and signed and dated “R. Mutt 1917”, was a scandal even among the Dadaists, so much so that the original was never shown to the public. Now lost, only 16 replicas of the fountain survive.

One of the oldest brands in the history of design, founded by Marquis Carlo Ginori in 1735, Gruppo Società Ceramica Italiana Pozzi-Richard-Ginori owes its timelessness to the Montebianco model. A classic among classics, this line of sanitary ware designed by Gio Ponti reinterprets and establishes itself as a great commercial success, still very much in vogue today.

From classicism to the dynamism of sculpted forms. Among Ponti’s extensive research in the ceramic universe, the Z line stands out for its impetus and for how different it looks from more established models, becoming a symbol of the optimism of the early economic miracle years. “Rather than studying new shapes for their appliances, thus coming up with mere variations, Ideal Standard wanted me to study their true shapes, that is, shapes that in their essentiality came close to those typical formal characteristics that definitively identify an object”, declared the architect-designer.

If someone has renewed the ceramic language of the 20th century in Italy with inventiveness and rigour, that’s Antonia Campi. Although her work is never sufficiently mentioned among post-war design, she designed extremely original models which, in terms of shape, polished finish and use of colour, represent a crossover between the world of sanitary ware and the world of tableware and jewellery, in which Campi experimented relentlessly. Among these models is Torena - a striped blue WC with a suspended cistern and a uniquely shaped base.

“I am for an art that is political-erotical-mystical, that does something other than sit on its ass in a museum,” Oldenburg wrote in 1966. His pop version of the toilet, made of stuffed vinyl, ironically enhances its sense of decadence, while putting it on a pedestal and glorifying its importance.

Castiglioni’s experiment with vitreous china, the Aquatonda toilet is characterised by its shininess and the fact the toilet cistern, together with the toilet bowl, creates a single volume.

One of the most iconic models in the history of sanitary ware, Linda is a successful synthesis between the soft absoluteness of the shapes, developed by simply combining two straight lines and two semicircles, and a renewed functionality in the name of democracy. The line was conceived to be used combined with prefabricated walls, as evidenced by the fact that the drainage pipe is placed much higher than in the previous models. Linda was recently reissued: the result is Linda -X by Ludovica + Roberto Palomba, who rethought the volumes by using an innovative material, Diamatec®.

Comfort and intimacy are values that contemporary Japanese culture pays close attention to and sublimates through technology. The famous washlets, the WCs with an integrated water jet that sublimate the time spent on the seat thanks to an avant-garde performance, are a great example. Washlets aren’t just a combination of toilet and bidet - the latter is also present, albeit a bit different, in Arab countries - but they also offer a wider range of personal cleaning services that can be activated thanks to a special remote control. Washlet G, the model launched by the Japanese brand Toto in 1980, looks like a commode and was the first to try to overcome the use of toilet paper in favour of water.

Link, an emblem of minimalism in the world of sanitary ware, questions the concept of belonging through a sanitary ware collection also featuring a washbasin - these were in fact the years of countertop basins, and Ceramica Flaminia presented many models, to choose according to the size of one’s bathroom as well as personal taste. Link toilet was developed also in a suspended version, a trend that in the following years became very successful.

Patricia Urquiola takes inspiration from the smooth shapes of pears to design a sanitary ware collection that mimics the soft silhouette of the fruit. Again, a two-tone version of the collection introduces new colour combinations, thus putting an end to the prevalence of white, which had been lasting for at least two decades.

The W+W combined piece by Milan-based designers Gabriele and Oscar Buratti is not only an ingenious space-saving solution, but also a great way for saving water: wastewater from the washbasin flows into the toilet tank, reducing water consumption.

Inspired by the shape and size of a stone, of which it maintains the blunted yet pronounced presence, Stefano Giovannoni’s Alessi One turns biomorphism into an unprecedented innovation in the history of sanitary ware. All the wall connections are incorporated into the shape of the bowl, while the rounded commode only emphasises the surprising mimicry that inspired the design. In the same collection, the washbasin - another great commercial success - was the first to feature a monobloc version.

Special places require significant typological transformations. This is the case with Franke’s Heavy-Duty steel toilet, which was designed to be used in prisons. Made of a 2-mm-thick single steel sheet, it cannot be dismantled and does not encourage self-harm. Because of this, it can be used in public places subject to a lot of wear and tear or vandalism, such as gas stations or nightclubs.

An irreverent work of art as well as a news story, this solid gold water closet weighing 103 kg is a mocking satire of the country it is named after, America, but also a democratisation of its (apparently) elitist use. Commissioned by the Guggenheim, it replaced an ordinary toilet in one of the museum’s bathrooms, allowing visitors from all walks of life to use it. In 2019, America was displayed in Blenheim Palace, England - right next to the room where Winston Churchill was born - and later stolen after an opening party in honour of Cattelan. To this day, the thieves remain unknown, and the work - which some think may have been melted down - is nowhere to be found.

A reinterpretation of the work of Italian Rationalist architects, including Piero Bottoni, Angeletti Ruzza’s Madre toilet takes some of the stylistic features of the period, updating them through refined shapes that enhance the profile and the dialogue between volumes.

The result of the latest evolutions in washlets, Toto’s Neorest has now become a truly smart object. Completely self-cleaning, it neutralizes bacteria by using electrolysed water, while UV light helps dissolve faeces thus making toilet brushes unnecessary. The water pressure and temperature of the integrated bidet are also adjustable. An interior light illuminates the toilet at night, while an air exchange function actively counteracts foul smells. The washlet also allows the users to create their own profile. To date, 50 million units have been sold worldwide.

The Gates Foundation has always been very environmentally aware, and it was one of the first to fund the optimisation of dry toilets and raise awareness about it. The Nano Membrane Toilet saves a lot of water and is designed especially for rural areas of the world lacking a stable water supply system. The flushing device uses a rotating mechanism that transports faeces and urine, without generating foul smells, into two different containers, where they are regenerated for a new use: urine is filtered and turned into water, while faeces undergo a chemical combustion process and become fertiliser. Powered by a solar panel, the Nano Membrane Toilet will be launched on the market in the next few years, once the company completes the product prototyping phase for mass production.

Although well-established, and understandably so, the toilet is still undergoing many innovations aimed at optimising resources and cleanliness. This is also the case with the new rimless models, such as the recent Cabo toilet by Debiasi and Sandri for Antonio Lupi. The absence of the rim eliminates the problem of the insidious concentration of dirt and bacteria, while the double jet flush, with water flowing both from the right and left side, ensures that the entire internal surface of the bowl is always clean. In the case of Cabo, it is also the unusual elusive shape of the lid - one could almost say it looks like a duck’s beak - that makes it toilet stand out, claiming the taste for an incisive expressiveness.