Bookshelf

Alex Johnson

Celebrating innovation and inspiration in one of the most basic of all home designs: the bookshelf.

Bookcases are so much more than just a place to store one’s books. They've become experiments in engineering and explorations into modern art, covetable in their own right. Financial analysts at Bloomberg have even used the IKEA Billy bookcase as an index of economic growth.

In these pages you will find plenty of inspiration and diversity, from "Juxtaposed," a shelf capitalizing on limited space to display seven books containing the world’s most influential religions, to Sakura Adachi’s "Trick," a bookcase that constantly mutates into a table and two chairs. Shelves can even be re-imagined: the way laundry is dried in China informed Dutch designers Studio Ditte as they created their Kwan bookcase.

So while we appreciate the efficient book storage of e-readers, let us marvel at physical bookshelves that are shaped like trees, or hold books upside down, or can even walk. This beautifully crafted book will bring joy to book lovers everywhere.

Reviews

[Alex] Johnson's book will remind our descendants of the whimsy and glory of making theater out of book storage.

— The Wall Street Journal

Stacked cinder blocks and boards work just as well-or as optimistic in this e-book world—as the swirling, angled, wacky shelves in Alex Johnson's new book.

— The Los Angeles Times

Johnson's delight in the inventiveness of contemporary bookshelf design is infectious, and the care for and love of books imbued in these creations may enthuse even the most devoted e-book reader.

— Publishers Weekly

…a very cool compilation of creatively designed bookshelves…

— The Chicago Tribune

Especially and particularly recommended to anyone whose ideas of interior decoration and design include rooms of bookshelves brimming over with their life-time collections.

— The Midwest Book Review

Contributors

Alex Johnson

Author

Alex Johnson is a journalist and writer. A regular contributor to The Independent, he also runs the popular design and lifestyle blogs Bookshelf and Shedworking. He has written several books, including Bookshelf and Improbable Libraries.