Books and Shelves
Beyond bookcases and standard storage strategies, this entire (small) apartment space is lined from floor to ceiling and wall to wall with nooks, crannies and cubbies for every book, furnishing and decorative object you could possibly cram into such a cramped and cozy little home. Living room, dining room, bedroom and kitchen – no space is safe from these omnipresent slots lining every possible vertical surface.
Overhead and underfoot, the thickness of these walls has been expanded into the rooms of the abode to accommodate shelving at all heights and of standard and non-standard sizes alike. A few have hinged doors or are otherwise concealed but most remain open at all times, becoming part of the spaces they surround. No single picture (drawing, plan or photograph) can fully capture how dynamic this space really is (or how pervasive the shelving units inside it are).
Who needs to hang wall art or add other decor with these odd opening animate the interior spaces so much? Painted with black backgrounds against the plain white walls, these voids also serve to visually extend the sense of inside room to make this crowded apartment also feel somewhat larger. By wrapping around walls and corners, the signature shelving permeates the home but also connects one room to the next.
Not just for books and knick-knacks, these slots also hide entertainment system elements including speakers, a TV and other essentials for modern living. You can bet if there were stairs in this place there would be some stellar under-stair storage solutions in play too. As it stands, the niches, alcoves and cupboards that deck the halls and walls on all sides are overwhelming enough without adding a second floor into the (marvelously messy) mix. What remains to be seen is whether the designers of H20 Architects can go beyond this in a future design idea - whole-home bookcases seem the conceptual limit, but maybe the floors and ceilings should be fair game too?
