Books At Home

2011-12-01T13:16:00.001-08:00

2011-11-30T13:10:00.000-08:00

COMING SOON

THE SHOP

Postings around here have been pretty light since summer, but for a good reason. Besides doing a pile of summer reading (thanks everyone for your amazing lists), and bringing home a baby boy (thanks, Jess!), I've been working on a (very small) retail project. Above are a few sneak peeks at what's to come...

2011-11-30T13:07:00.000-08:00

COMING SOON

THE SHOP

I've been working on a (very small) retail project. Above are a few sneak peeks at what's to come...

moving

2010-03-26T20:35:00.000-07:00

hi friends. i'm consolidating my book related blogs. future bookshelf posts (as well as a few of my favorite previous posts from this blog) will be found here. thanks for visiting!

revolver

2009-11-04T21:59:00.000-08:00

often imitated in smaller, stripped down versions that lose the totemic power of the original, opinion ciatti’s massive "ptolomeo" was the tower bookcase that launched so many pretenders. The icon was recently reworked into a rotating version (above) that nicely updates an antique standard.

trucks

2009-07-07T17:35:00.000-07:00

sick in bed last week, i kept bringing piles of books from the study to my bedside & found myself longing for a library style book truck. looking at these beauties from vernon and gaylord, i realized that their double-sided nature made them good candidates to go between two windows, with one of their narrow sides against the wall, as i mentioned with these shelves.

b-up

2009-02-28T15:50:00.001-08:00

the white hotel is probably the coolest hotel in belgium. and cool goes clear through their philosophy. not only do they support belgian art & design by filling their hotel with it, they also let you take some of it home. well, buy some of it anyway. what would I want to take home? plenty, starting with the peyman nadirzadeh-designed b-up shelves, made by belgian manufacturer colect. they are slender, well-mannered, and original. wouldn't we all like to be?

case

2009-02-28T15:26:00.001-08:00

second-hand ladderax units continue to pull in big money at auction, so i've often wondered why no-one has re-issued the simple, obviously desirable line. well, it looks like london-based case commissioned matthew hilton to do just that. only they claim it for their own as the casefile system.

ladders

2009-02-26T12:21:00.000-08:00

the february issue of world of interiors carries a nice little feature on library ladders. among my favorites shown (for those of us without a rail for a rolling ladder) are these three. the putnam no. 70 (top) folds ingeniously from side to side for easy storage in a corner. the folding stepstool (middle) from summerill & bishop is simplicity itself. for a light, modern and affordable ladder, ikea's inreda ladder is tough to beat.

the 606

2009-02-19T13:27:00.000-08:00

early on in this blog's history, i did a very small post about the dieter rams-designed 606 universal shelving system, but i've long felt the system deserved a bigger posting, so here it is. designed in 1960 with the help of neils vitsoe, professor rams' system is an incredibly beautiful bit of design thinking. when it was introduced it must must have looked shockingly clean and industrial. the main idea wasn't so new; pole and wall mounted shelving systems with optional cabinets and desks abounded in the '40s and '50s (omni, cado, ladderax, etc., etc.), but those systems were mostly made of wood, sometimes with gold accents. they were almost earthy in comparison to the white powder coated steel shelves and starkly silver hardware of the 606. rams' shelving was like a pure idea of storage come to life. it still is. it's difficult to imagine a system more stripped to its essence, but if material innovations make that possible, i feel certain that vitsoe will make it happen. they continue to work directly with dieter rams to make improvements to the system, keeping a design classic from becoming merely design history. in fact, the relationship between vitsoe and the 606 is so close that they seem one and same (the 606 is often referred to as "vitsoe shelving"). so why wont you find the above pictures on vitsoe's website? are they from moss's website (after all, they claim to be the "exclusive distributor of the 606 Universal Shelving System in North America")? no. because vitsoe, it just so happens, isn't the only one to make the 606. italian furniture company de padova also make the system, albeit only in aluminum. that means you can also buy the 606 from a de padova dealer, as well as from vitsoe themselves. no matter who you get it from, if you have the means to acquire a bit of this lovely stuff, you'll hold on to it. 606 shelving rarely pops up in the secondary market; a nice tribute to the design in its own right. (below: images from vitsoe's site)

corners

2009-01-02T21:55:00.000-08:00

i have an aversion to corner cabinets. you know, those awkward pentagonal units meant to keep two rectangular cases from running into each other where walls meet. something about putting a rectangular row of rectangular objects into a triangle just bothers me. (i.e. books into a corner cabinet. this aversion also explains why you won't see round shelving on this blog.) i always advise people to run bookcases into each other at corners as shown above. i came across this lovely london home a few days ago on remodelista. this study is simple and beautiful, and the whole house is worth staring at for hours.

human scale

2008-12-23T11:46:00.000-08:00

while i'm the first to pop my eyes at a wall of books rising to the rafters, i often think about the lonely life of books positioned well above a reachable level. even with a library ladder, it's always the books within arm's reach that will get the most attention. the rest become, for the most part, decoration. so while i'm awed by sky-high libraries, i'm equally enamoured by the intimate scale of interiors by architects like adolf loos and frank lloyd wright. the bibliothèque nationale in paris couples a monumental space with shelving designed according to human proportions (see image above, from "the library at night" by alberto manguel).

an inventive way to get a little extra accessible height to bookshelves is shown in the library of the judd foundation in marfa, texas (shown below). the bottom shelf extends out at double-depth to provide a bench seat for either sitting to read at the case, or for standing on to reach the highest shelves. this is a good solution for those that might be too short for the top few shelves, or those who only need a little extra step to to the top shelf. it's integral, self-explanatory, and effective. a great idea.

vasu

2008-12-03T13:54:00.001-08:00

smart and self-contained, vasu is stackable, wall-mountable shelving designed by mikko laakkonen for covo. could be a nice way to move books as well, all you'd need to do is plastic wrap each section & carry that section by its built-in handles.

enzo mari

2008-11-03T15:54:00.000-08:00

the unbelievably prolific designer enzo mari has created some truly beautiful shelving in all sorts of materials, including the metal systems shown above, manufactured by robots in italy. he's also designed bookcases in wood and cardboard. so, what does mari use in his own home? none of the above. he uses the out of production glifo, a super-flexible polypropylene system he designed in 1967 (shown below, from the book "at home with the makers of style").

'93-'08

2008-11-03T12:32:00.000-08:00

as the name suggests, the '93-'08 shelving system by horm was originally designed in 1993, and recently updated.

information from horm: “It was 1993 when Solaio was born, a product that to this very day is still a herald of the company style, inspired by a Gardella architecture.
This year we present the third evolution of that system, with a different name, since we felt the need to underline the new aesthetic statement and, above all, to remind us and the world about the fact that this line still belongs to after 15 years”. We were finally able to get rid of the rear elements, to optimize height, to rationalize the various cavities, and to easily expand width, to insert the writing desk and the ultra-slim TV, to have a bar shelf, boxes for secret objects, a tray that seems to float in mid air, to create the corner. A graphic game that becomes a further response to contemporary trends that suggest light, versatile bookshelves, that are simple and straight-forward only at first sight."

ellen allien

2008-10-29T13:56:00.000-07:00

ok, it's not books, and ok, i'm not even certain where the shelves are from, and ok, ok, this picture's been floating around the blogosphere for a while now, but i couldn't resist posting german dj ellen allien's great living room full of shelves. sue me.

influence

2008-10-28T15:54:00.001-07:00

no question what "influenced" this line of low-cost shelving from habitat. it gives nods to many great designs, including classics by vitsoe, zanotta, and cappellini. habitat have made a nice, clean, minimal system they can call their own. ikea tried a similar imitation that fell short with cheap looking finishes and glass shelves. (personal preference. the dust and fingerprints that show up on glass shelves makes them a high maintenance nightmare. plus, the ikea system has painted wood, satin finish metal and glass all in the same system. i much prefer the all-in-one look of the habitat system.)

stay

2008-10-28T15:34:00.001-07:00

available only at heal's in the uk, the stay line of shelving has been "specially designed to lean against a wall and brace under its own weight", though it doesn't seem terribly necessary: the design looks bulky enough to handle two back legs without changing its look substantially. still, i find something quite endearing about the low unit. now, when does heal's open in the us?

tight spots

2008-10-28T14:27:00.001-07:00

anyone who rents a variety of apartments in new york (or many other big cities with cramped spaces) will inevitably be vexed with the problem of narrow spaces between windows or doors. often these types of spaces may represent the only wall space in an apartment, creating a big problem for storage. a long history in furniture has taught me that very few companies make bookcases for very narrow spaces, and those that do seem to discontinue them quickly. so if you are one of those who've been faced with this dilemma, get your hands on a carlson white tower from cb2 before cb2 stops making them. while much of cb2's storage throws me off with features like "champagne stained nickel" and "frosted glass", the carlson comes in a bright white powdercoat finish that i can live with.

i've also seen people place a few ikea lerberg wall shelves (below) sideways, stacked above one another, in a narrow spot, as its spaces then become high enough and deep enough for books (smallish paperbacks, really). shown here in grey, it also comes in a clean, bright green.

art of the grid

2008-10-15T12:16:00.000-07:00

an eye-opening project sent to me by abby low. these shelves were designed by astrid stavro using the layout grids of swiss graphic designer josef muller brockman as part of a project called "the art of the grid" at the royal college of art. classic rules of graphic design could bring some proportion and harmony to much of the gimmick-ridden contemporary product design world. a trend i wouldn't mind seeing.

jeep

2008-10-11T14:39:00.001-07:00

cool name. cool shelves. designed in 1971 and made of abs plastic (a favorite material of the era), the stacking jeep system is one of the few plastic options out there to show such a great sense of style. but, then again, just about everything on bbb emmebonacina's website does.

railroad ties

2008-10-04T13:52:00.001-07:00

does wanting your shelves to show a little texture mean your home has to look like a lodge? not necessarily. these railroad tie shelves are visually light enough to bring in a bit of natural/industrial ruggedness without hijacking the beauty of the books it holds.

home libraries

2008-09-29T13:04:00.001-07:00

some nice personal libraries from flickr.

muji pulp unit system

2008-09-23T17:02:00.000-07:00

many plain inexpensive bookcases look something like the units that make up this muji system. what's the advantage? it's even plainer. the perfectly proportioned cubbies and lack of a footboard allow these units to be either stood up or stacked on their sides (as shown above) to get the proportions needed. and they are actually priced well, so stacking several isn't just theoretical.

colorful edges

2008-09-17T21:22:00.000-07:00

have the good people at hertz furniture systems been learning from david hicks and jonathan adler? the work of both designers displays a penchant for outlining edges in strong colors. hertz, the library supplier who makes these cases, probably had a different aesthetic in mind, but the colorfully traced out edges of their shelves could be used in many ways.

quick update

2008-09-12T17:52:00.000-07:00

the very first images i posted on this blog were of a stack of painted mdf i called my shelves. they were custom cut to fit into two wall recesses that essentially held them in place. i worried that my little physics based system might not work in another space, but i'm glad to say that they are working out nicely in our new home. it seems if they are wedged snugly into a corner, they are quite stable. i've placed the separate sections side-by side, floor to ceiling.

jean prouvé

2008-09-10T11:10:00.000-07:00

a beautiful interior layout in this month's elle decoration italia showcases an adjustable shelving system by french master jean prouvé. a similar example from the '50s is shown at top. the smaller piece is from the the '30s. the library ladder (also '50's) is a bit "involved" but stunning nonetheless. the only really readily available prouvé shelving today is the small unit shown below, manufactured by vitra.

eiermann shelving

2008-09-05T15:56:00.001-07:00

of all the "leaning" shelving i've seen, this seems the most straightforward, classic, and flexible. originally designed for a handful of houses he designed, egon eiermann created an archetype which never went into mass production. currently manufactured by richard lampert in germany. the system can build up to 20 feet high(!). yet more inspiration for a great home project.

rolling step stools

2008-09-03T16:02:00.001-07:00

thankfully for those who want that perfect library touch next to their shelves, this staple of public library furniture is now widely available in home-friendly materials and colors. (though i understand if some still have a soft spot for the clunky brown metal version). above is the melio at dwr.

a single and two-step stool by jasco.

white plastic stool by wedo.

gio ponti

2008-08-25T18:19:00.000-07:00

super-thin designs from ponti's own home, circa 1950's.

truck furniture

2008-08-25T17:52:00.000-07:00

truck is a furniture company based in osaka, japan. this is the fm shelf, typical of truck's design aesthetic; beautifully plain, strong designs with a classically danish simplicity and use of natural materials. below is the tk shelf, which looks like an archetype of straightforward industrial shelving. but how often do we actually see industrial shelving this beautiful?

egg-crate shelves

2008-08-23T08:47:00.000-07:00

built-ins are the ultimate bookcase luxury, and my favorites are designed by architect hugh newell jacobsen. jacobsen [pictured at top} builds floor-to-ceiling walls of his signature bookcases into his all white, flooded-by-sunlight interiors. the nearly paper thin shelves are called "egg-crate cases", based on the design of antique wooden egg crates [see bottom image, above]. this means there is a basic outer frame to fit the wall recess, filled with slotted horizontal shelves that are then fitted with slotted vertical supports. he explained: “You are always taking books off the shelves and the rest all fall down... With this design, you can remove a whole foot and they won’t.” while these shelves are not commercially available, plans can be found here.

if you want a similar look ready-made, german company interlübke manufacture the studimo system [below], which promises to fill "the entire height of a room down to the last millimeter". studimo is not as thin and elegant as the jacobsen egg-crates, but at least you won't need a carpenter.

front and back

2008-08-22T09:24:00.000-07:00

this modular system was designed by ugo la pietra for berdonini in 1967, and re-issued last year. it uses slotted, stackable elements to create an extremely unique two-sided bookcase with the straightforward logic of a folk solution. at first glance it seems a little bulky, but a longer look at the design shows it to be virtually irreducible, which is the essence of minimalism. while i'm sure there's nothing "minimal" about the pricing, this seems like very good thinking for a basic but stable stacking system. the single-file stack [at top] would be a great space-saver with the flat side pushed against a wall.

boxes

2008-08-04T22:52:00.000-07:00

finding a good bedside bookshelf should be simple. something small and unobtrusive, providing easy access to books while still maintaining a surface for a clock, lamp, etc. "yes", i hear you say, "you are describing a typical nightstand, what's the problem?". for me, a traditional nightstand is too bulky and busy, and books usually end up stacked horizontally on a lower level of the nightstand. if the book i want happens to be underneath other books, i'll hesitate to attempt the maneuver from the awkward angle of being in bed. i'm trying to relax there, i don't want a juggling act. also, once books are stacked in a pile, my ocd won't let them be a haphazard pile; they will have to look neat, creating yet another level of apprehension at disturbing the stack. "so", i hear someone say, "line them up vertically with bookends". but, i counter, that would look stupid. currently, i've addressed the problem by stashing a few bedtime reads in a white componibili i'm using as a nightstand. years ago, i used a very simple dresser drawer found on the street in exactly the same way as this "crate" designed by jasper morrison for established & sons. my drawer wasn't sufficiently deep to hold most books, so i tossed it. the morrison design looks a little more ample, but a found dresser drawer, nice & roomy, could do the trick.

speaking of found dresser drawers, the unit below is made from such drawers as well as aluminum angles from the hardware store. a nice project found in the readymade dyi primer.

two collapsibles

2008-07-13T20:54:00.000-07:00

the nuvola rossa, designed by vico magistretti in 1977, has the look (but not the functionality) of classic collapsible furniture. it's a beautiful object, but it doesn't actually collapse, and seems to hide nearly as many books as it displays. (correction: it does collapse. i can't remember where i got the notion that it didn't. sorry)

parallel shelving (below) by stephen burks is a true collapsible that retains a light, open look.

mogens koch

2008-06-28T09:29:00.000-07:00

the library systems of danish designers like mogens koch achieve an almost weightless modular wooden cabinetry by making the walls as thin as possible. the cabinets lose very little by way of strength because they are made of solid wood and dovetail joined. this is consummate danish craftsmanship, still executed with exacting detail in the beautiful rud. rasmussen workshop in copenhagen. the boxes of the koch system can stack on top of and beside each other without looking bulky or clumsy because the total thickness of two sides placed together is still amazingly thin. of course, you get what you pay for, and when it comes to vintage danish masterpieces like these, you pay even more.

the ikea cases below (which already read a bit thinner than most of ikea's cases) go some way to answering the "thinness" problem by starting with one case, then providing add-ons with only one side. this prevents the doubling-up of sides that can make placing cases like the billy together into a heavy-looking affair. i don't mean to suggest they are anywhere near the league of the koch cases, but i do wish more cases had this option.

tomado

2008-05-22T08:20:00.001-07:00

andy beach, of the excellent reference library, pointed me to the dutch tomado system.

hungarian bookshelves

2008-05-22T08:04:00.000-07:00

apparently designed by an unnamed hungarian physicist, a good home project courtesy of corey at baltimore rowhouse (see comments under "supersystem" below).

plans here.

porro bibliotech

2008-05-12T05:43:00.001-07:00

modular often means metal, but piero lissoni is a master at designing clean and modern shelving from wood. this system for porro proves the point.

ladderax

2008-05-07T05:20:00.000-07:00

always on the lookout for good, flexible systems, i recently came across ladderax unit furniture. it was designed by robert heal and produced by staples & co. in the 60's. the following is from material cultures:

"The Ladderax System consists of a number of upright ladders, supporting shelves and cabinets. These are very simply fixed by resting on steel support rods, hooked on to the rungs of the ladders. They fit snugly into grooves under the shelves and cabinets. This allows the system to be very easily assembled and… gives the utmost flexibility. Ladderax does not require any permanent fixing to a wall, because it self-supports. Ladderax is furniture you can move about and rearrange as easily as you can change your mind."

already have a ladderax system (or any midcentury classic, for that matter)? get spare parts here.

see also.

supersystem

2008-05-02T06:49:00.001-07:00

supersystem shelving by tom kühne comes in wood and aluminum. a nice simple construction suited to smaller-sized volumes, it also seems like good inspiration for a home project.

books in new york

2008-04-19T10:08:00.000-07:00

while i'll still be posting to books at home, i've also started a new blog/project. you can follow its humble beginnings here.
(pictured above is three lives & co. in new york city)

hirsh industries

2008-04-19T06:14:00.001-07:00

last august, i posted the personal library my good friend abby low (see top picture above). about a month ago her home was given the full treatment on design*sponge. many of the comments on the design*sponge post revolved around where abby got her bookshelves. abby got them from a local hardware store, but an intrepid web researcher found them supplied at walmart, where they were sold at a significant discount to most other suppliers. above are shown two easily found colorways, although i have also seen them in all black (black frame/black shelves). These are a good, very inexpensive solution. they require no tools, the parts themselves are extremely lightweight (in fact so lightweight, one might worry about stability, but they are very stable), and they are easily adjustable. they are quite deep however, and not stackable. a shallower, stackable version of these might be the ultimate cheap bookshelf solution.

reading chair

2008-03-07T19:30:00.000-08:00

a bit of a diversion from my stated theme, but i couldn't resist. i've always looked to the ernest race classic "heron" as an ideal reading chair, but they've been out of production for so long that only british auction houses seem to get a hold of them. well, no longer. fashion designer margaret howell has teamed up with race to re-issue the chair. i'm not sure i'd choose this particular colorway, but just knowing the chair is newly available makes me very happy.

a vintage version. see the center "donkey" below for another great race design.

donkeys

2008-02-14T19:09:00.000-08:00

three generations of the penguin donkey by isokon.

integral

2008-02-11T19:09:00.001-08:00

an ingenious built-in.

slotted systems

2008-02-08T19:27:00.000-08:00

a beautiful basic system, fnp modular shelving by moorman is a well known standard in germany. i'd love to see it more here in the states. there are quite a few of this type of system from companies in europe, but this one seems to me to be the best. the montana system out of denmark (not slotted, but also european) also presents some very nice possibilities.

donald judd/lehni

2008-02-05T04:50:00.000-08:00

swiss company lehni manufacture the metal furniture designs of donald judd. they appear to have dealers in every small village of switzerland, but not a single north american rep. will someone please take them on?

update: see comments.

simple bookends

2008-02-01T20:45:00.000-08:00

anyone who has seen the bookend selection at, say, barnes & noble is aware that most of the bookends out there are massive, sculptural productions of polar bears and ships and globes. even looking for simple ones at an office supply store will usually yield something that looks like a hand or gigantic paper clip. luckily, I work near muji and so was able to bring home these barely-there bookends, which get the job done without looking like dobermans.

i also came across this lovely adjustable bookend recently on manufactum, a german site that stocks simple everyday classics.

a few more from manufactum.

charlotte perriand

2008-01-02T10:29:00.001-08:00

in a time when women were scarce in the upper echelons of high industrial design, this girl could design (and grow body hair, apparently) with the best of the big boys. she famously worked with le corbusier and jean prouve and had a long and fruitful career on her own. as far as bookcases go, she is probably best known for her "mexique" design. but i prefer the system shown below.

for a long time, I've wished someone would make a basic vitsoe-style bracket shelf that would fit in a standard bracket rail of the style you might find in any hardware store. this system, designed by perriand for the now defunct flambo in france comes pretty close to what i'd love to have. these are no longer in production, but if anyone knows anything about the company (flambo) or any similar solutions, please pass them on.

new design

2007-12-04T09:29:00.001-08:00

from two great reference sites, covers and bonluxat.

bruno mathsson

2007-12-04T08:30:00.000-08:00

a while back, i posted the book crib by swedish designer, bruno mathsson. he also designed a great deal of "bookish" furniture. the following images are taken from a recent book about mathsson published by yale.

the "anita" bookcase formerly made by dux in sweden. with only one screw at each contact point, it amazes me that this system can hold up a great deal of weight, but i've seen other images of this thing fully loaded and it seems to do quite nicely.

from the dux catalog of 1979.

in the above-mentioned book, mathsson is described in the picture below as being "at work in his home". we should all be so lucky. if you look closely, you will see that he is using the bookstand shown in the picture above.

bookends

2007-11-01T13:12:00.001-07:00

powder coated bookends from dutch company e15. they make beautiful minimal furniture. these bookends are made to fit the shelves of e15's bookcases. (they are not stripey, it's just a poor scan, sorry.)

sellex ZUMM

2007-10-23T05:53:00.001-07:00

by encompassco. not sure how it's attached or keeps from sagging, but it's lovely to look at.
from the company's site:

"Flexible modular shelving system in natural or coffee finish anodised aluminium, suitable for contract and domestic purposes.
Available in unlimited heights and lengths, with or without sliding doors.
Also in cupboard and wall mounted cabinet formats."

more midcentury

2007-10-19T12:21:00.000-07:00

the following images are from "mit buchern wohnen" (living with books) by karl baur, published in germany in the mid-1950's.
many, many great images of book storage ideas. these are a few of the wire-iest.

many possible bracketing solutions in a very nice illustration.
the book abounds in wonderful line drawings.

albers & breuer

2007-10-15T17:15:00.000-07:00

an early joseph albers case. wonderful solution for maximum stabilty with minimum of materials. i do wish the shelves were longer (and all the same finish), but who am i to tell albers how to do his job? ameico are currently offering a made to order edition of this case.

albers' own apartment at the bauhaus. click all these older black and white images for the larger ones. these are nice cases, and it's worth examining the details. this looks similar to a case currently made by ikea, but note the better proportioning, the better shelf spacing, thinner (more elegant) shelves, and the helpful back supports of the breuer cases. also, the great ground clearance. it holds a clean block of books in the air.

the ikea version.

these next three are marcel breuer. i've tried for a long time to figure this system out. it appears to be ceiling suspended, with the vertical rods being attached to the ceiling in a way that is hidden by a dropped soffit. if anyone knows anything about this system, please let me know.

note: when using rail-and-bracket shelving, always go floor to ceiling with the rails.

not williams

2007-10-01T13:24:00.000-07:00

montel is (as far as I can tell) a canadian office and library furniture/storage manufacturer. the "smartshelf" system is very flexible and pretty inexpensive. plain enough to go anywhere if you give it some space.

this library-style shelf unit is adjustable and also by montel. if i'm not reading their pricing wrong it's under $300.

usm swiss modular furniture

2007-10-01T13:15:00.000-07:00

you may have seen this in the new 3 volume "phaidon design classics". designed in the 1960's by architect fritz haller and good-looking ever since, usm is in the high end of modular furniture, but it's very flexible and durable. I've done a lot of work with usm, and I have yet to find a sytem that can do so much, so simply.

bookends, file cases, ladders

2007-10-01T09:22:00.001-07:00

looking at library supply sites, I came across some great home library accessories. library furniture is some of my favorite.

cardboard

plastic

metal

clip-on bookends in plastic. love the palette.

metal

magnetic

more clip-on bookends

simple stepstools are hard to find. these are from Vernon Library Supplies.

a nice way to keep a book inventory. mini card catalog. also a straightforward little rolodex.

"insert coin"

2007-09-29T16:12:00.001-07:00

from core 77's site, the "insert coin" case.

"Eva Paster and Michael Geldmacher of Neuland Industriedesign have teamed up with Nils Hoger Moormann--a staple of the "New German Design" school--in a partnership to create innovative furniture that challenges the traditional conception of bookcase design. The collaborative effort produced Insert Coin--a wall mounted bookcase that'll remind you of your earliest Erector set. The design uncaps at Milan's Salone de Mobile next week.

The trays can be inserted into the wall panel in any order or configuration, so that each shelving system has a unique look. Insert Coin creates an off-kiltered arrangement not just for books, but for everything else that deserves a special place on the wall.

Some of the other designs accompanying this transforming bookcase are Bookinist, a mobile reading chair designed on the principle of the pushcart, and Walden, a hybrid between a treehouse and garden shed that encourages adults to go out and play in nature--or simply lay back and count the clouds."

new cases/shelves

2007-09-24T10:30:00.000-07:00

these images come from

http://covers.fwis.com/juxtaposed

a gorgeous book covers blog with a special feature on some newer bookcase designs.

eero aarnio's bookcase

2007-08-30T07:54:00.001-07:00

this reminds me of the overhead shelving in the section below. how many people could pull off sunflower yellow shelving? looks great here.

living with books

2007-08-30T07:28:00.001-07:00

standard garage shelving. painted white, it takes on a new feeling.

the george nelson designed "omni" system, in his own home

a lovely overhead setup. good use of high wall space. love the daybed/sofas.

playwright tennesse williams had storebought cases placed together, then covered the seams between individual cases with molding & painted the whole thing brown. looks like one huge case. i could see this with ikea "billy" cases and a very simple molding.

the offices of grosset & dunlap, publishers, in the 60's. each dividing wall betwen offices is bookcase on one side, tackboard on the other. great divider idea for a home.

great idea. i'd love to see these fittings in brass with wood panels. (all above pictures from "living with books: 116 designs for homes and offices, by rita reif, 1968. thanks, abby!)

more shelves...

2007-08-30T07:14:00.000-07:00

poul kjaerholm prototype modular bookcase

pretty ingenious. appears to allow addition of depth at random, as well as width and height, though he'd likely dissaprove of anything other than this perfect configuration.

blueprint for the design.

"string" system from sweden

apple crate storage from bailey's.

in a perfect world...

2007-08-20T10:51:00.001-07:00

all windowsills would be built deep enough to accomidate 2 or 3 "book cribs" by bruno mathsson.

unique midcentury shelving

2007-08-20T10:25:00.001-07:00

great way to make adjustable shelving. minimal metal ladder style struts with wooden chevron supports. simple and lovely. Ico Parisi, 1957. (the following images are from "Italy: Contemporary Domestic Landscapes 1945-2000, by the italian institute for foriegn trade.)

how to make a log look modern. marco zanuso, 1949

way before vitsoe. vico magistretti, 1946

suspended bookcase by Ernesto Nathan Rogers, 1958

another interesting suspended shelving unit, the Veliero by Franco Albini from 1938

a nice setup from the 30's. as minimal and "invisible" as shelving gets. i especially love the pared down rolling library ladder.

two favorites

2007-08-01T12:30:00.000-07:00

atlas as4 shelving from brooklyn

vitsoe shelving by dieter rams for vitsoe in italy

abby low's library

2007-08-01T12:20:00.000-07:00

abby is an incredibly talented designer and a very good friend with a beautiful collection of art and design books. this is a shot of her living room.

a few from home

2007-08-01T11:47:00.000-07:00

this is my own personal library. i used physics and inexpensive materials in designing the shelving to avoid wrecking my rented apartment's walls, and to keep from cutting too much into book-buying money. the shelves are made of 3/4" mdf. there are no screws or attachments anywhere. the shelves are placed in two shallow recesses in the walls. this placement prevents the shelves from moving side-to-side. the weight of the horizontal shelves holds the vertical supports in place quite nicely. the edges are hand painted. it's very sturdy and easily installed.

the wall recesses are 5" deep on both fireplace sides, 3' deep on one wall side, 5" deep on the other. so it doesn't need much side support to keep the whole thing up.

the shelves fill the walls on either side of the fireplace

the largest books rest on the floor

*see update here