5.5 Designers
5.5 Designers is a design research and consulting firm created in 2003 by French quartet Vincent Baranger, Jean-Sébastien Blanc, Anthony Lebossé and Claire Renard. The four, who met while studying design at applied arts college ENSAAMA in Paris, are known for quirky lighting and customised furniture with a playful, interactive twist.
The group began working together after their graduation, with an installation at an art gallery in Nîmes, France. ‘We set up a “hospital” for furniture, grafting together used and broken chairs, tables and lamps to create new hybrid pieces,’ says Anthony, in the May 2007 issue of Elle Decoration. From these experiments the ‘Réanim’ furniture collection was born, an ongoing project that encourages users to salvage worn-out old chairs and tables with Day-Glo plastic leg splints and ‘prosthetic’ seats.
