Designed in Hackney: Hackney designer Gitta Gschwendtner is best known for her anthropomorphic furniture and lamps, and this movie by Justin Anderson brings them to life in a surreal living room setting.

Above: Shuttlecock Science

In the movie, shuttlecocks are fired from the Shuttlecock Science lampshade that she created for the Deptford Design Market Challenge in 2007, flowers bloom from her Wallflower vases and the Hugging Lamp scuttles away under a table.

Above: Wallflower

Human legs mysteriously appear from beneath the Crossbreed coffee table, made of three vintage tables, and another character balances on the over-sized Alice chair.

Above: Hugging Lamp

The Sliding Box hangs at an angle when a book is placed inside while the Strangled Lights hang above the whole scene.

Above: Crossbreed

The music is by Jules Maxwell.

Above: Alice Chair

Gschwendtner designs furniture, objects and interiors from her studio near the canal in Haggerston.

Above: Strangled Lights

Dezeen first published her permanent exhibition spaces at the Wellcome Collection centre for medical science and art in London when it opened in 2007.

See all our stories about Gitta Gschwendtner »

Above: Sliding Box

Here's some more information from Gitta Gschwendtner

Living Room – The secret life of furniture

Filmmaker Justin Anderson has created a short film that captures the unique character of Gitta Gschwendtner’s designs. Gitta’s work often appears to have a life of it’s own - imagining autonomy for the inanimate object. Justin’s film creates a beautiful collage of surreal encounters and uncanny moments set in Gitta’s Living Room. Music by Jules Maxwell.

Gitta Gschwendtner’s practice spans the field of furniture, installation and exhibition design. She has recently completed a stunning installation for the Southbank Centre incorporating 50 poems by refugee youth’s amongst a cloud of 1000 pieces of tyvek paper. Gitta is currently working on a permanent furniture installation for the Victoria & Albert Museum, creating a seating experienced inspired by chairs from the new furniture gallery opening this year.

Designed in Hackney map:

.

Key:

Blue = designers
Red = architects
Yellow = brands
Green = street art

Designed in Hackney is a Dezeen initiative to showcase world-class architecture and design created in the borough, which is one of the five host boroughs for the London 2012 Olympic Games as well as being home to Dezeen’s offices. We’ll publish buildings, interiors and objects that have been designed in Hackney each day until the games this summer.

More information and details of how to get involved can be found at www.designedinhackney.com.