Thursday, 2 April 2015

Lacuna


Lacuna is a monumental, participatory art installation being built for the inaugural Bay Area Book Festival to be held in downtown Berkeley, June 5-7, 2015. Constructed from 50,000 books donated by the Internet Archive, Lacuna will sit in MLK Civic Center Park for the duration of the festival weekend, creating a reflective space that offers contrast to—and respite from—the busy energy of the festival. Admission to Lacuna is 100% free, and visitors to Lacuna can take books from its walls at no cost.
Project Lacuna

Tuesday, 24 March 2015

Improbable Libraries

A video of me talking about my new book Improbable Libraries on the BBC flagship news programme Today.

Tuesday, 10 March 2015

Kosha meditative space

An innovative, original and decidedly different concept. More than a luxury piece of furniture, Kosha is a sort of protective sheath. This exceptional object consists of 33 strips of wood machined one by one then assembled by hand with a watchmaker's precision. 10 niches provide spaces to store one’s favourite books, always within easy reach. The ideal place to retire to be alone or in the company of a book.
Kosha

Friday, 6 March 2015

Building with books



An excellent step-by-step description by Zoe Toft of building a den of books on World Book Day to raise money for Book Aid International (please donate via the link).
Playing by the book

Wednesday, 4 March 2015

Wine barrel bookcase

Made from large retired Napa Valley wine barrels that have been carefully taken apart and fashioned into a fully functional sturdy bookcase.The deep red on the inside comes from years of exposure to quality wine. The outside of the barrel racks show visible barrel marks on the outside so you can see where the banding was and where wine was spilled during bottling.
Wine Country Craftsman

Tuesday, 17 February 2015

Kosha Heritage Bookmark


The Bookshelf staff recently roadtested this lovely stainless steel 'feather' bookmark from Kosha and enjoyed the experience very much - it flattens out while inside the book, then springs gently back into feather form once released. Heartily recommended, it comes in a variety of colours.
Kosha

Tuesday, 10 February 2015

Bookshelf

 
We usually tilt the last book on the shelf in order to prevent the books from falling. Likewise, a wide variety of bookends are on the market for the same purpose. 'Bookshelf' has its own radian, which can keep the books on the shelf to one side

Monday, 9 February 2015

Library hotels


A hotel arranged by the Dewey Decimal System, Britain's only prime ministerial library, and a converted public library.
The Independent
(Also featured in my new book out in April, Improbable Libraries out April 6)

Monday, 26 January 2015

Little Free Libraries installed at the former Athletes’ Village



Residents of East Village are now able to access free reading material, with the arrival of Little Free Libraries in the neighbourhood.  Two miniature libraries have been installed at the former Athletes’ Village that provide residents of all ages with free access to a varied selection of books. The libraries have been designed by local artists, bringing a flavour of East London artistic talent to the area.

The chosen artists, illustrator Evelyn Rowland and jewellery designer Bianca Loh are both East London residents, and were selected for both their talent and passion for the area. The arrival of Little Free Libraries at East Village is part of an ongoing commitment to bring art and culture to the neighbourhood. The libraries are the latest in a series of artistic ventures following the installation of local art in the foyers of East Village residential buildings and a competition to win an art commission with a £70,000 budget.

Thursday, 22 January 2015

The Longboat Library

A fun and playful bookshelf designed to inspire children to read. The product is crafted from ash wood and hand painted in the style of a Viking longboat.
Joshua Thorpe

Wednesday, 21 January 2015

Hash modular bookshelf



Make many combinations based on two modules as well as combine them under different angles (turn to 90 degrees). The shelf is made of painted steel.
Max Voytenko at Line Studio

Monday, 12 January 2015

PinPres




PinPres is a kid’s room shelf that makes the act of sorting up the room a playful experience where the shelf adopts its form to the toys, books and other things that are being stored.
OOO My Design

Thursday, 18 December 2014

Tuesday, 9 December 2014

Tom Gauld's colour-coded library

Archive quality giclee prints on 300gsm Hahnemuhle photo rag paper  in editions of 100 signed and numbered copies.  The image size is 16 by 9.5 cm and the paper is 25 by 20cm. £75 each
Tom Gauld

Tuesday, 18 November 2014

Novel Living


Lisa Occhipinti presents her ideas for preserving, collecting and displaying intact books and also deconstructing them to make craft projects.
Novel Living

Monday, 20 October 2014

The London Magazine


Not technically a bookshelf I know, but this is the first in an occasional series highlighting literary magazines that would suit any shelf. So it seems suitable to start with the oldest of the lot, The London Magazine. It was established in 1732 and has naturally undergone a variety of relaunches - what hasn't changed is the standard of writing - contributors have included Wordsworth, Shelley, Keats, Evelyn Waugh, TS Eliot and William Boyd. It comes out bimonthly and the current issue includes Harry Mount on 'My London', Edward Lucie-Smith on The Magic Realism of Julio Larraz and Tom Sutcliffe on Digestible Opera. Well worth buying.