Bronze Pet Care, Toys, Supplies and Products for Animals Design · 2025
Black Hole Cat Litter Box
- A' Design Award 2025 Bronze Winner in Pet Care, Toys, Supplies and Products for Animals Design
- Awarded April 15, 2025
- CLIENT: Suzao Union (Hangzhou) Technology Co., Ltd.
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 24,684
- Verification code B07DC4482B · Verify this award
About Black Hole Cat Litter Box
Black Hole is a cat litter box designed to match modern interior decoration. A ring forms the front entrance and is linked to the top cover by a connecting rod, so both parts move together. Rotating the ring opens the cover, and the linkage adds natural resistance for a soft and quiet close. An outlet on the top cover lets litter carried out by the cat fall back into the box as the cover is lifted. The ring also conceals the shape of the container. Black Hole is made of plastic, mainly PP and ABS, and the ring can be placed inside the box for transport.
Liang Xueyong's Black Hole Cat Litter Box engages the contemporary design discourse surrounding the transformation of utilitarian domestic objects into aesthetically refined forms that honor both functional necessity and spatial presence within the modern interior. Emerging from a lineage of product design that seeks to elevate everyday objects beyond mere instrumentality, this work demonstrates particular attention to geometric purity and chromatic restraint, qualities that resonate with Scandinavian design philosophy's emphasis on accessible beauty and the mid-century modern movement's celebration of organic abstraction translated through industrial materials. The compositional achievement rests primarily in the bold deployment of the circular aperture as both functional element and visual anchor, creating a formal tension between solid and void, enclosure and accessibility, opacity and depth that invites extended contemplation. The designer's chromatic sophistication becomes evident in the selection of a soft turquoise or celadon tone that suggests contemporaneity while avoiding aggressive vibrancy, a hue that reads as calming, clean, and approachable within domestic contexts while maintaining sufficient visual interest to distinguish the object from generic utility. The interplay between the dominant circular form and the supporting rectilinear base establishes a dialogue between geometric vocabularies—the circle's suggestion of wholeness, continuity, and organic reference meeting the rectangle's stability, rationality, and architectural grounding. Technical execution demonstrates precision in the apparent seamlessness of material surfaces, the crispness of edge resolution, and the careful calibration of proportions that balance visual presence with functional ergonomics scaled to feline dimensions. The work appears to explore themes of sanctuary and threshold, the portal-like aperture suggesting transition between realms, the shadowed interior offering refuge and privacy within a form that maintains visual transparency and spatial lightness. One might observe how the circular opening functions simultaneously as practical access point and symbolic gateway, a formal device that has carried meaning across architectural and artistic traditions as passage, cycle, and wholeness. The inclusion of the feline subject within the photographic documentation proves instructive, revealing the scale relationships and intended interaction while also introducing biological warmth and animate presence that humanizes—or perhaps more accurately, domesticates—the otherwise abstract formal composition. This design seems to propose that objects serving animal needs need not retreat into utilitarian invisibility but can instead participate fully in the aesthetic life of contemporary interiors, elevating the status of pet care implements to designed objects worthy of visual consideration. The viewer might consider how industrial design increasingly addresses the expanded definition of domestic inhabitants to include companion animals, and how such attention reflects evolving understandings of interspecies cohabitation and the integration of diverse needs within shared living environments, inviting contemplation of how design can serve multiple species with equal thoughtfulness and aesthetic generosity.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- The Decopark Black Hole Cat Litter Box features a ring mechanism connected to the top cover via a linkage rod, allowing for synchronized operation. The ring serves as a front entrance and can also be rotated to open the top cover. And the linkage rod’s opening and closing mechanism adds natural deceleration resistance, effectively reducing the noise of closing impacts. The outlet on the top cover allows cat litter carried out by the cat to fall back into the box as the cover is being lifted.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Overall Dimensions: Length 565mm x Width 418mm x Height 520mm
Container Dimensions: Length 550mm x Width 380mm x Height 410mm
Weight: 3.1kg
Material: PP/ABS - Tags
- Black Hole, Exploration, Soft-close mechanism, Integration with Indoor Environment, Cat Litter Box
- Production Technology
- It is made of plastic, primarily PP and ABS. The ring as a main feature meet the needs to link with the lid. We have tried many linkage methods, dealing with challenges to calculating the corresponding supporting point of the structure and the products counterweights to open and close the lid with just a connecting rod, and also adds resistance for a soft close. Regarding transport, the size of the ring are designed to allow it to be placed inside the box, in case of transport damage.
- Design Challenge
- The most challenging part is the product's dual-direction opening and closing mechanism. Initially, we aimed to achieve the lid's opening and closing using the movement or rotation of a ring. Eventually, we chose the rotational motion structure. This involved overcoming challenges including calculating the appropriate support points of this structure and determining the product's counterweights. Therefore, this design allows the lid to be operated by a single connecting rod, providing both smooth opening and closing, as well as resistance for a soft close.
- Project Duration
- The project started in November 2023 in Hangzhou, and was exhibited in The ONE Pet Show in April 2024.
- Operation Flow
- Black Hole Cat Litter Box features a ring mechanism connected to the top cover via a linkage rod, allowing for synchronized operation. The ring serves as a front entrance for the cat and can also be rotated to open the top cover. And the linkage rod’s opening and closing mechanism adds natural deceleration resistance, effectively reducing the noise of closing impacts.
- Research
- Through observation, we found current cat litter box market have not taken the integration of home design into account, making it difficult for them to be a part of modern home design. Therefore, we made a series of improvement. In terms of shape, we designed a ring to hide the original shape of the cat litter box, making the function and style coordinated. Regarding the function, the exit of the lid can remove the remaining litter that would fall back into the litter box as the lid close.
- Inspiration
- Due to limitations of their functional design, traditional cat litter boxes face the challenge of matching with interior decoration. Recognizing cats innate curiosity for exploring caves, this product offers them an innovative and thrilling experience during use. The shapes of black holes have inspired the design of the ring, which not only covers the original cat litter box but also serves as a visual element to integrate with different interior design styles.
- Patents
- Decopark (2023) Suzao Union (Hangzhou) Technology Co., Ltd.;
Patent Applied. Patent No. 202420603254.1. Zhejiang Sci-tech University. 2024. China.
Patent Applied. Patent No. 2024301617060. Suzao Union (Hangzhou) Technology Co., Ltd. 2024. China.