10.15.2007

albers & breuer


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? ameico are currently offering a made to order edition of this case.



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.

4 comments:

BrianJewett said...

You must be correct since the support rods are too small to bear that load, specially with those holes in them. You can see part of some sort of cross bracket at the top just to the left of the door but It's still too small to take that much weight from one end.

Unknown said...

I have been looking for the ikea version of the breuer shelf. Do you have any idea what the name of it is?

erik heywood said...

Sorry, I don't remember the name of the Ikea shelf. Anyone else know?

BrianJewett said...

I don't think they sell them anymore. At least I couldn't find them on the site or catalog.

I have 2 in "Black Brown". How far are you from North Adams, Mass.? ;-)