The latest in a long line of city-centric upcycling projects, this modular couch turns the ultimate in untouchable urban infrastructure into a chic industrial work of furniture.

Carlo Sampietro created the Cloche Sofa after seeing a section of sewage pipe abandoned by a construction site, its spot being fit for replacement with a new set of tubes.

He then fitted the ends with stabilizing structural circles and plasma-cut sections for seats, welding them back into place, hinging them and creating two locked positions (open and closed). Various configurations can be achieved by opening and closing sections to create a pair of chairs, a love seat or a full sofa.

This is far from the first time that Sampietro has reworked urban elements into new forms – his Cloche Chairs turned safety barrels from “symbols of caution into objects of comfort.”

Some of his pieces draw on the visual language of familiar street objects, but interpret them in new ways, like this police barrier table constructed from walnut, steel, resin and using LEDs (which light up through its lettering below).

More about the sofa from the artist: “It represents landscape evolution that dismantles established structural standards and elements of construction materials, and repurposes a found material into sophisticated design, reshaping a common object into a meaningful amalgam. This piece harnesses objects that outlived their original uses, were discarded, reclaimed and renovated. The evolution of this landscape design could be achieved by taking in consideration other material such as concrete, stainless steel, wood or marble, all cylindrical forms present in existing construction materials or natural environment. The tube shape is accented by LED side panels and the conic footing. This renders the object’s hybrid functionality almost invisible, unnoticeable at the first glance.”

Architects go to elaborate lengths to hide the passage of water from the walls and roofs of buildings, but in this case, an interactive and artistic facade features the process prominently instead, turning the flow of liquid into music for passers by.

Kunsthof Passage in Dresden features a typical urban German experience: a series of cute small shops and quaint restaurants tucked into tunnels and courtyards and removed from the main streets.

But it is more than that as well, thanks in part to the work of Heike Bottcher and others who contributed to turning the facades of structures facing its primary courtyard area into colorful works of musical art.

And, at the end of the sequence, channeled water flows out into a rain station where people can play, rinse their hands or let their pets romp through the result of this strange chain of channels.