Chairs that double up as ladders, clotheshorses, shelves or lamps are part of a collection of furniture by Korean designer Seung-Yong Song.
The first eight chairs each integrate a piece of furniture commonly found in a bedroom, but can also be grouped together to form a bed.
A clothing line positioned atop a rocking chair is Objet E, which can move back and forth to gently help dry hanging garments.
Objet O is a chair tucked inside a giant paper lampshade that can be folded down to create a private den.
A ladder is the backrest for the chair named Objet B, but can also be used as shelving like the similar Objet A.
Seung-Yong Song exhibited the collection during Seoul Design Festival 2011, which took place last month.
Other interesting furniture by Korean designers include a chair that can be carried like a handbag and felt-covered-cabinets that fasten with belts, buttons and zips.
Here's a description of each piece from Seung-Yong Song:
8objets: I do not bother myself with looking for the perfect space to my own body.
I read, work, eat and also sleep in this. This space is cozy and free.
This is my own space that makes all I want possible.
Objet-O: I have a childhood memory of making a den somewhere in my house- Under the table, in the wardrobe, and in the attic- I created my own base and felt relieved as if I avoided enemies that were actually non-existent.
My own secret space at the moment which was comfortable and protected, better than a huge mansion, the coziness of the space like a bird's nest isn't what we dream basically?
Objet-E: The unique name of things limit the range of product’s shape and function, but above all, the fact that there exists stereotyped function in accordance with each unique name suppresses my imagination.
I am not willing to deny or destroy the identity based on the stereotype, but I only reinterpret the uses I need in my own design language.
Objet-B: I climb on a chair. I put books on a ladder.
If things are freed from their own unique functions, we might agonize over how to use this objects.
Objet-A: I am looking in every nook and cranny of the room to find hidden spaces.
Under the table, beneath the bed, above the wardrobe ... All the space in the room is completely full of odds and ends.
There's no other choice. And I start building my objet like the city's tallest building seen from the window in the room.