Ask Keren

Frankfurter Allee 6
Berlin-Friedrichshain

Found objects, paired with brass.

I make lamps with a twist and a unique story.

One-of-one lamps by Keren Gerlitz, made in a studio in Berlin-Friedrichshain.

See the collection For venues and designers
Tuba, Once a tuba, now a floor lamp.100 cm70 cm

Tuba. Once a tuba, now a floor lamp. 100 x 70 x 17 cm.

Once a telephone, a tuba, a meat grinder, a rocking horse. Now a light.

Found on Berlin pavements and at flea markets across Germany and Eastern Europe. Kept whole, and set in brass. Each one is the only one there is.

Black Phone, Once a black telephone, now a table lamp.Black Phone67 x 15 x 40 cmDancing Sprayer Lamp, Once a sprayer, now a table lamp.Dancing Sprayer Lamp45 x 15 x 25 cmMeat Grinder, Once a hand-cranked meat grinder, now a table lamp.Meat Grinder40 x 9 x 26 cmGreen Heater, Once a 1950s heater, now a floor lamp.Green Heater70 x 40 x 23 cmTuba, Once a tuba, now a floor lamp.Tuba100 x 70 x 17 cmHand Drill Lamp, Once a hand drill, now a table lamp.Hand Drill Lamp60 x 27 x 27 cmSamovar, Once a samovar, now a table lamp.Samovar65 x 28 x 28 cmDDR SDS Drill Lamp, Once an East German hammer drill, now a table lamp.DDR SDS Drill Lamp56 x 20 x 12 cmVolt Meter, Once a volt meter, now a table lamp.Volt Meter40 x 21 x 19 cmBroken Kettle, Once a kettle, now a table lamp.Broken Kettle29 x 26 x 26 cmBlue Heater, Once a heater, now a floor lamp.Blue Heater100 x 55 x 23 cm

Every piece shown at close to the same size; the real size is under each one.

See the whole shelf

Before, and after

All the pieces

Every piece starts as something found. It stays whole: taken apart, cleaned, rewired and set in brass, then switched on for the first time.

Samovar before: Nickel samovar whole on a stump in the workshop
As found
Samovar, the finished lamp
Now

Samovar

Once a samovar, now a table lamp. 65 x 28 x 28 cm.

See the piece
Camera Lamp before: Camera bodies, lenses and hoods laid out on a white table
As found
Camera Lamp, the finished lamp
Now

Camera Lamp

Once a camera, now a table lamp. 45 x 15 x 25 cm.

See the piece
Pappa's Pipe before: The pipe collection laid out on a sheet
As found
Pappa's Pipe, the finished lamp
Now

Pappa's Pipe

Once my father's pipes, now a chandelier. 45 x 41 x 41 cm.

See the piece
Black Phone before: Black rotary phone whole on the white bench, workshop behind
As found
Black Phone, the finished lamp
Now

Black Phone

Once a black telephone, now a table lamp. 67 x 15 x 40 cm.

See the piece
Meat Grinder before: Eisenhuettenwerk meat grinder clamped to a wooden sideboard, radiator behind
As found
Meat Grinder, the finished lamp
Now

Meat Grinder

Once a hand-cranked meat grinder, now a table lamp. 40 x 9 x 26 cm.

See the piece
Horse Lamp before: Red child's rocking horse whole on the bench, shop window behind
As found
Horse Lamp, the finished lamp
Now

Horse Lamp

Once a child's rocking-horse chair, now a chandelier. 80 x 60 x 30 cm.

See the piece
Telrad Bedside Lamp before: Black Telrad dial phone on a slatted table, 1979
As found
Telrad Bedside Lamp, the finished lamp
Now

Telrad Bedside Lamp

Once a telephone, now a wall lamp. 25 x 15 x 43 cm.

See the piece
Sewing Machine Lamp before: Littauer treadle sewing machine complete on its table, at home
As found
Sewing Machine Lamp, the finished lamp
Now

Sewing Machine Lamp

Once a sewing machine, now a table lamp. 65 x 41 x 18 cm.

See the piece

Real photos, before and after.

The studio door at Frankfurter Allee 6, with the Messing Around sign
Building the Tuba, March 2025. Watch with sound, 1:20

Our little creative safe haven

A shared atelier at Frankfurter Allee 6 in Friedrichshain, with four other artists. The pieces are there, plugged in.

Come by, switch them on, take one home.

Ask for a visit
A cream rotary telephone made into a table lamp, two bulbs lit on a curved brass arm
The White Phone, lit.

The White Phone

What is considered garbage for someone is a treasure in the eyes of another.

I came across this white phone. The lady who was selling it wrote that it holds sentimental value, and she likes to sell it to someone who might have a use for it, even though it doesn’t function anymore. I thought to myself: I am this someone!

As we met, she held it like a precious doll and told me how it was the phone in her late parents’ house, and that they used it until they died, because they never liked cell phones. I promised to take good care of it.

When it became this funky table lamp, I sent a picture to the lady. Then happened something that never happened to me. The lady called me to say how happy she is, and thanked me over and over again.

Have an object like this? Start a commissionSee the telephones
Meat Grinder, Once a hand-cranked meat grinder, now a table lamp.40 cm9 cm
Drawn: the grinder it was. Measured: the lamp it is.

What a chef sees in a meat grinder

A cook trained in Paris, then a goldsmith and jewellery designer. You can see both here: the grinder keeps its crank, its plate and its clamp. Nothing is hidden. The brass sits around it, and nothing is dressed up.

Meat Grinder · table · 40 x 9 x 26 cm · LED mirror bulb

See the Meat GrinderAbout Keren

Brought home from the street

How a child’s rocking-horse chair became a chandelier, in the Instagram stories I posted while building it.

Story frame: a red rocking-horse chair on a rug, captioned Brought home from the street
Story frame: the chair taken apart on the bench, captioned Disassemble
Story frame: the horse and chair parts, captioned Cleaning, thinking and bonding
Story frame: bulbs laid over the horse, captioned Idea found
Story frame: bending brass tube at the bench, captioned Metal time
Story frame: the chandelier test-hung, captioned Modeling
Story frame: the finished Horse Lamp, captioned Come take a ride with me
Read the whole build See the Horse LampOr the Tuba, in four chapters

For places people come back to

For venues and designers
Volt Meter, Once a volt meter, now a table lamp.Volt Meter40 x 21 x 19 cmMeat Grinder, Once a hand-cranked meat grinder, now a table lamp.Meat Grinder40 x 9 x 26 cmWatt Meter (Triangle), Once a watt meter, now a table lamp.Watt Meter (Triangle)42 x 22 x 10 cmZippo Gas Tank Lamp, Once a jerry can, now a table lamp.Zippo Gas Tank Lamp43 x 33 x 12 cmMad Hatter Chandelier, Once two hats and a porcelain rabbit, now a chandelier.Mad Hatter Chandelier100 x 49 x 5 cm

The repeatable part of one of one: a family of small pieces for the tables, each a different object, that read as a set because they share brass and warm light. One statement piece over the bar or in the window finishes the room. Pieces from the collection already light a cafe in Berlin and the entrance of a guesthouse in Brandenburg.

Cafes, bars, restaurants, hotels and offices, in Berlin and beyond. Tell me the room and how many tables, and I’ll suggest what fits.

Tell me about your room

Where would yours go?

Cocktail barSomething guests photograph Hotel lobbyThe piece on the way in CafeHigh ceilings, long tables

One of a kind doesn’t mean fussy. The pieces are plugged in and ready, so they go where a room needs them, and brass with warm light sits as well in an old Berlin room as in a new one. Each room below has a shortlist and a note on where the pieces usually go.

Cocktail bar, restaurant, hotel lobby, cafe, listening bar, studio and office. Rooms AI-generated, lamps original.

See the rooms

Three ways to get one

  1. Choose one from the shelf. Every piece is ready, with real sizes and the light it makes.
  2. Furnishing a place? Tell me about the room and I’ll suggest pieces that fit, lit, with sizes: one for the entrance or a family for the tables.
  3. Bring your own object. Come with your nostalgic objects, ideas and dreams, and I’ll tell you honestly if one can become a light.
The Empress, Once a Japanese porcelain tea set, now a chandelier.80 cm80 cm

The Empress

Once a Japanese porcelain tea set, now a chandelier with six lit cups.

Only after it was done did the set turn out to be very expensive. No, that did not change the value of the chandelier. It did mean there will never be a second one.

Hanging · 80 x 80 x 80 cm · 6x G9 LED · one of one

Ask about The EmpressRead the story

From my Instagram comments

“This is a very beautiful lamp and a very beautiful story. I love that you gave it a second life.”

C., on the White Phone Lamp

“Definitely meant to be! So beautiful!”

D., on the Green Heater

“An artist and an outlaw.”

D., on the DDR Drill story

Real comments from Instagram, names shortened.