Books At Home

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.

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 a beautiful copenhagen workshop. 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.

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, but larger books hanging off the edge might make me want to kill myself. still, it 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). well, 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 person with black with 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?

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?

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 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 (see their Spring 08 magazine "Spaces" for pictures of the Bumble and bumble store and salon renovation/re-design I did over the summer), and while it's out of my price range, I'd recommend it to anyone.

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.