When I think of furniture made from books the first word that comes to mind is uncomfortable, however this hefty chair entitled Bench of Thoughts (Banco del Pensamiento) made of recycled books by Alvaro Tamarit actually looks pretty darn comfy. The heft of the chair also matches the price, however this is certainly more of an art piece than something to eat your bagel and coffee in the morning. Check it out over on Saatchi Online.
Stacks is an outdoor bookshelf installation by artist David Harper made of books and wood. Via Cazenova College:
The theme for Harper’s installation: “these trees shall be my books,” comes from William Shakespeare’s “As You Like It,” but the goal of the work goes far beyond Orlando’s wish to immortalize Rosalind. Harper seeks to immortalize the love of knowledge, and the homage owed to the living things we use to create stores of knowledge for all to study. “STACKS” captures the transformation from living tree to store of knowledge.
(via fasels suppe)
Holy awesome bookcase batman! Designers Eva Alessandrini and Roberto Saporiti of the Italian furniture design firm Saporiti have created this beautiful bookcase system that allows you to spell custom words and phrases using modular bookcase letters. If you liked this, see also the Alphabet Bookshelf by Lincoln Kayiwa. (via illusion, fasels Suppe)
The abundance of book sculpture I’ve seen online lately is staggering, however it was refreshing to discover the work of UK-based Bronia Sawyer who colors, folds, and rolls the pages of books to create these bird and flower-like plumes of color. Via her site:
I love to take something like a book and turning it in to something visually pleasing. With book sculpture I like the fact that books are flat and square they have order but by cutting them and folding them you can create organice and random shapes. I also like to add colours but mainly for the way it looks in photographs.
See lots more work via her Flickr and website.
(via illusion and all things paper)
Design student Sónia Lamêra of Portugal designed this fun alphabet using photographs of old books stood on end.
Update: Via Facebook I just learned about a similar project by design student Bryan Ku who made this poster for the Festival of Books. (thnx, edsel!)
Argentinian conceptual artist Marta Minujin has constructed this massive tower of books at Plaza San Martin in Buenos Aires in reference to UNESCO’s recent nomination of the city as the World Book Capital in 2011. The myriad books were donated by libraries, readers, and over 50 embassies around the world and the structure can be climbed through May 28th after which it will be dismantled. Photos linked to their sources. (via flavorwire)
Noriko Ambe creates intricate sculptures using books and layered paper. Born in Saitama, Japan, 1967 she currently lives and works in New York. Thanks to Elizabeth at Lora Reynolds Gallery in Austin for helping me wrangle the images above. See even more of her work over at Scai the Bathhouse. (via spoon and tamago)
Provide the dimensions of your favorite stack of books to San Francisco-based furniture maker Jane Dandy, and she’ll create a wooden side table that perfectly encases them. (via svpply)
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© 2010-2013 Christopher Jobson, all rights reserved, unless otherwise noted. I try my best to attribute images, videos, and quotes to their creators and original sources. If you see something on Colossal that's misattributed or you would like removed, please contact me. The Colossal logo and name Colossal are the trademarks of Christopher Jobson.
