Smart Style: Eight Interior-Enhancing Bookcases & Dividers
With today’s interiors changing to reflect our evolving lives, becoming more flexible, versatile, and mobile, bookcases are suddenly stepping up to play a more important role in contemporary homes. In addition to showcasing books and mementos, modern bookcases are also working as room dividers, remote workstations, and entertainment centers, all while adding style and texture to living spaces. Sleek, unexpected, or sculptural, crafted in traditional metal and wood or more modern materials, these are eight of today’s most stunning examples, from the most popular designers and makers in the world.
Nami Bookcase by De Castelli
Designed By Andrea Parisio, Nami is a modular bookcase with an elegant, lightweight presence and contemporary sculptural allure which can be configured to stand alone in either of two shapes: an embracing "C” or a fluid "S." Neat shapes in different metals create a playful pattern of solids and voids, while the striped DeLabré stainless steel structure is enriched by a decorative band, available in steel, brass, and copper finishes, to complement any style.
Demetra Bookcase by Porada
From Porada, where “everything’s born from the love of the wood” comes designer Gino Carollo’s elegant Demetra modular bookcase, featuring two elements (32cm wide and 60cm wide) which can be combined to create bespoke bookcase arrangements. Each element is made from Canaletta walnut using a folding technique in two directions to allow the continuous grain of the veneer on all sides, with a slight narrowing from front to back creating a curving effect.
Cage B Bookcase by Henge
Italian architect and designer Massimo Castagna’s linear, grid-like structure features shelves set within a metal cage of burnished brass. Handmade using traditional methods and without using any chemical products, the frame features inbuilt supports for the shelving, made with heat-treated, oil-finished Eucalyptus wood. The bookcase can be personalized to enhance any interior, with shelves in a range of sizes and depths as well as different woods in lacquered colors.
505 Unit by Molteni&C
Designed By Nicola Gallizia, 505 is an elegant modular system in tune with contemporary living. With moveable partitions and surfaces crafted of the same lightweight PVC foam used to make wind turbine blades, the structure is able to support a variety of compositions, including desks, compartments, and spaces for books and objects to displayed or stored. Discreet mechanisms allow for tip-up doors and multi-purpose roll-tops, while the finish of graphite oak adds tactile and visual contemporary flair.
Bistrot S Bookcase by Henge
Henge defines their philosophy of design as a journey, one that begins with an innate understanding of the authentic and organic nature of the materials they work with and results in pieces that are far more than just furniture, but presences that live and age, developing their own unique patina and personality. Massimo Castagna’s Bistrot is a perfect example, featuring black burnished steel and solidwood covered in burnished brass crafted by hand using traditional techniques. The overall effect is of a shimmering sculpture, as striking as any objects it may display.
Random Bookcase by MDF Italia
Designed By Neuland Industriedesign, Random revolutionized the concept of the bookshelf when it was introduced in 2005, thanks to its sculptural white profile and striking arrangement of spaces. Since then, the bookcase has evolved to keep pace with today’s modern lifestyle, adding color variants as well as storage cabinets for items not meant to be shown off. Adaptable to any size living space, Random continues to be an icon of the design world.
Hector Bookcase by Molteni&C
Vincent Van Duysen’s Hector modular bookcase may look light and airy, but don’t let that deceive you — it’s also a hard-working structure perfectly suited to working from home, with worktops and storage units featuring tip-up doors that are ideal for laptops, tablets, and printers. Customizable to any length of height, Hector’s wide range of fine finishes add visual impact to any décor.
Prism Divider by Gallotti&Radice
Designed by David & Nicolas, Prism is a handsome bookcase crafted of “Colore” Frisè walnut with satin brass metal parts. Available with two or three shelves, Prism’s modular design allows different elements to be placed together to form various compositions.
