apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Wow. What incredible design. Form and function at the highest level.

SO much better than that awful leaning one.

That looks really cool. Cannot compare to the ridiculousness of that crazy v-shaped expanding bookcase.

It's lovely.

this looks amazing

This is an expandable bookcase done right! Great job.

A beautiful paradox, that one...

Anyone who uses bookshelves for, you know, books, will only see the collapsed form once. Where would you put all of the things formerly held on the shelves when it is closed? And if you did not have much to store on them so as to allow it to expand and contract, why own a bookshelf in the first place?

I think it's very beautiful but the collapsing functionality is somewhat lost on me.

What's the point? When it's collapsed it's just a huge block of wood that has some nice structural details.

The "awful," "ridiculous," "crazy," V-shaped one was at least functional in both modes.

yeah. way to redeem yourselves AT. :)

I'd need 2 though. one closed and one open.

It's much better than the others - I can see it's expandability being a handy thing for renters who move frequently who might have varied spaces for book storage...

...but I suspect that it's pricing is nowhere within the realm of accessability for those renters who move frequently - so it's rather a moot point.

First shelf I've ever seen that gracefully accommodates regular and oversized books.

This one is snazzy, but not practical for a real book collection. I think it would be nice as a room divider and for holding a small number of decorative items, though. And for that use, the expandability would allow it to stretch to fit varouis sized wall spaces. (Fill an unused doorway or cover a stretch of wall??)

I can see it being very functional for people who move frequently. It packs into a compact shape and it can be adjusted to fit whatever size wall happens to be in your new place. And of course it gets lots of points for being both elegant AND clever :-)

Too bulky even when expanded and useless with collapsed.

i love that you can adjust it to fit a space. does anyone know the dimensions? is it available for sale in the us?

Now this is how an expanding bookcase should look! It looks solid and sturdy. Could probably be used as a room divider as well. The collapsible feature is great for when it needs to be moved or stored.

Thank you google translate!

A link on the Dezeen website points to Bom Interieurs for execution which DOES have bookcases but not this one. No press releases either. grrr.

This is much better than the V but it's kind of clunky. I didn't do any research but I'm guessing this is made of wood, possibly plastic. Should have made it out of a thinner, stronger material it would be nicer - i.e. metal.

Books are clunky to begin with and if you put them on a big clunky shelf it all looks way too heavy in the room.

The Dutch word 'rek' has two meanings. One is elasticity/flexibility, the other one is rack/frame. There is a link to the manufacturer on the Dezeensite, with email adress.

Amazing! The leaning one was silly. This one, although its collapsibility isn't much of a functional feature, is simply stunning!

I tend to agree this has very thick lines, but that's what makes it interesting and less subtle. I would use it more as a room divider with objects filling some of the spaces than to stock it with books, so if you are looking for a bookcase, this is probably not quite going to look ok once filled with books. I can imagine for some people, the thickness is taking away space that could be for more books, and some of the very small spaces are just wasted. But I like it as a sculptural element and display, and I'm one of those who don't buy or possess just so many books. In reality, I probably wouldn't take this home for my own, but I envision this looks best to not be crowded with books but rather as a showcase for a moderately edited selection of other things you'd like to display.

haute.

I can't even think of functionality because it's so beautiful.

agree with previous comments about the collapsability being a one-time thing. but if you got it with a house and knew you wanted space in the future, it could grow with you.

i'd also be curious to know if each element is sturdy enough without the support of the others. as a modular piece, it might offer a lot of creativity and flexibility.

I love this soooooooooooo much. It's a little strange that some spaces would have to be for horizontal storage, which tends not to be all that pretty, but basically SO much nicer than the other one.

By the way... when this is collapsed it must weigh 2 tons to ship! And it's in another country? Hmm... maybe if we all buy one and rent a freight car thing to be sent on a ship.

"Anyone who uses bookshelves for, you know, books, will only see the collapsed form once. Where would you put all of the things formerly held on the shelves when it is closed? And if you did not have much to store on them so as to allow it to expand and contract, why own a bookshelf in the first place?"

It would be incredibly useful for me. My husband is in the military, and we move consistently. This would be easier to move than our current book cases.

Also, I plan on expanding my book collection. I don't have a ton now, but I always buy more. I would have this bookcase partly expanded until I could fill it. It would be easier than constantly buying new furniture.

Are you honestly so unimaginative that you can't see the possible usefulness in an expanding bookcase?

Yes. I'm going to marry a carrot.

Cool idea, but it looks better closed and you'd never really see it that way, would you?

This is great, also, i like most other designs on his website. Great dutch design. The funny thing is, I googled this thing in english and I found a whole bunch of sites (nowhere to order it though) and in dutch I just found one site. Apparently it's reputation has already exceeded itself quite a lot..

(Yes, I'm dutch so I can read dutch but his whole site is in english so I don't see the point! :))