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16: Mabele "Off the Wall" Competition
Italian metal manufacturing company, Mabele, creates artistic and functional products for its clients. For their new bookshelf, the company was looking for a sculptural design that could be mounted on a wall like a picture frame without any visible hanging devices. The shelf had to be composed of iron and weathered steel in order to make best use of the company's manufacturing processes (laser cutting, bending, welding, and epoxy powder painting).
For the design of 16, weathered steel is bent and welded to form storage pockets and shelves of varying sizes and visibility. Some shelves provide an ideal surface on which art and other objects can be prominently displayed, while other storage spaces could be used to hide more utilitarian items such as phone chargers, extra blankets, etc. Because the shelf was required to weigh less than 40kg, circular openings are cut into the piece at select areas to reduce the weight. The top of the shelf is bent back and designed to slip into a z-clip style wall mount, creating a seamless and hidden connection with the wall.