Objects For The Neighbour

Pets by Hanna Ernsting

For Objects For The Neighbour, eight up-and-coming designers were challenged to create work exploring the day-to-day lives of neighbours, the objects they use, and how they overlap. The resulting exhibition, which runs until Sunday, is one of the highlights of this month's Cologne Interior Design Week, Passagen.

Pets by Hanna Ernsting

Frankfurt-based designer Hanna Ernsting came up with a family of footstools called Pets. Shaped to resemble stylised animals, the stools have loose soft coverings that can be pushed and pulled around, and are designed for people to snuggle their feet into for an extra sense of comfort.

Park Chair by Julien Renault

Julien Renault's Park Chair translates the instantly recognisable form of a park bench into a chair that he hopes will fit "into everyone's domestic environment".

Buurman by Kai Linke

Inspired by canning jars, Kai Linke's Buurman side table/storage boxes are designed to safeguard their user's treasures in the same way that canning preserves the harvest of a neighbourhood each season.

Sample Avenue by Karoline Fesser

Described by Cologne-based designer Karoline Fesser as "small architecture", these glass and wood containers are designed to be as individual and idiosyncratic as each resident of a building block is.

Figurines by Hanna Krüger

Hanna Krüger's Figurines play on a similar theme of individuality. Each lighting piece is slightly different in height, size or componentry, creating the impression that they are a series of characters.

Common Things by Sarah Böttger

Common Things, designed by Sarah Böttger, caters to the needs of a group of people living separately but sharing one corridor. Design-led doorstops and cleaning tools represent the shared items that this group might need in such a space, and the storage bag provides space for "the passed on and shared things that call this place their home".

(T)here by Florian Hauswirth

Florian Hauswirth's (T)here tells the story of a Swiss neighbour and his partner, who live in two different time zones. The two clocks tell the different times: when placed together, they represent the unity of the couple. An extra layer of storytelling in the piece is that the designer works from Biel, a Swiss town known for its watchmaking.

Barrier by Thomas Schnur

Cologne-based designer Thomas Schnur's Barrier is a fabric-covered room divider which sprang from the idea of creating neighbourhoods using separated space and territory.

Visit the exhibition at Körnerstrasse 48, Cologne, until Sunday 20th January.