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Invisible bookshelf - floating stacks of books for your walls

boingboing.net — Someone has invented a bookshelf that appears to be hidden behind the stack of books upon it. Check out the pics, the books really do look like they're floating!

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  • awilke, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1718 euro.. kind of expensive for a peice of metal
    • mrASSMAN, on 10/12/2007, -0/+26($23)
    • nibble128, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9how hard would it be to make your own? this should be a DIY project.... any takers?
    • ConceptJunkie, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Not only that, but it looks like the book on the bottom could be damaged. I imagine all that weight would leave a mark on the pages. Plus, it's completely impractical as my wife and I have about a thousand books... although it looks cool.
    • mozzep, on 10/12/2007, -8/+9"kind of expensive for a piece of metal"

      So are macs.
    • middleman, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2I would try and make one, but alas I am past high-school/junior-high and not longer have access to proper tools.
  • mathemagician, on 10/12/2007, -1/+16nice idea, but arranging books as a stack seems not very practical to me. I'd stick to normal bookshelves for now.
    • account, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2You wouldn't have to turn your head sideways to read the title, but if you accidentally bumped the books, they would all crash to the floor. I'd rather stick with a normal bookshelf.
    • antdude, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1An earthquake would make them fall easier than verticale ones.
    • splintax, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2The "sticklebook" shelf, by contrast, works like a normal shelf..
      http://www.sticklebook.com/

      (referenced in the boingboing article)
  • fugazi, on 10/12/2007, -13/+4Wouldnt it be smart to make it clear?
    • TehFRAG, on 10/12/2007, -2/+17its already hidden, so whats the point of making it clear. plus i doubt plastic is as good as metal when it comes to holding up a stack of heavy books.
    • KaiOs, on 10/12/2007, -5/+0It would... But meh I guess they will get to that in future models *hopes*.
  • shadcrkd, on 10/12/2007, -2/+31Jeez, go down to the home depot, buy a piece of metal and bend it, voila.
    • carpespasm, on 10/12/2007, -2/+24but they have a patent on sheet metal with a hinge, that's patent infringment when you do that!!!
    • tktk, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2That's exactly what I was thinking. Big hardware stores sell metail joists to connect 2x4"s together and this products looks just like a joist. For the same price, you could probably make 3-4 of these on your own. The finish won't be quite a nice but you're not supposed to see it anyway.
    • Xinareiaz, on 10/12/2007, -1/+53-4? more like 10
    • Sesse, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I would rather have a plexiglass shelf on my wall. I doubt many ppl will be willing to pay 23$ for this, there are many Can't-Do-It-Myself type of ppl, so I don't know. It might sell.
      Besides, I like having my books vertically arranged. I can just pull out any book you want. But in this case, it is rather hard to pull out a put which is in the middle.
    • WaterDragon, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5"That's exactly what I was thinking. Big hardware stores sell metail joists to connect 2x4"s together and this products looks just like a joist. For the same price, you could probably make 3-4 of these on your own."


      Are you talking about metal celing joists, usually about 2"X12"?
      And just how do you propose to cut them?
      They are heavy gage steel, and are not cut with tin snips (aviator snips).
      you would need a sliding-arm, power mitre saw (chop saw), with a carbide grit, metal cutting blade, to get any kind of smooth, precise cut. Or you could just butcher them, with a sabre saw or sawzall. Then file the edges for an hour or two(unless you have a belt sander handy).
      Then there's the problem that....after you cut off the rolled edge, one side will only be about 2' deep, so would only hold little tiny books.

      Y'all mght be programers or haxxorz, but I'm in the renovation/carpentry/electrical/cabinet- making/construction business, for many years.
      Nice try! lol
      It would be much cheaper to just buy these things ready made. Or simply move on to the next digg article. (like me)
    • millixaw, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3"Voila"

      Ironic.
    • carpespasm, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5"in this case, it is rather hard to pull out a put which is in the middle."

      this is for the Ikea crowd for whom books aren't knowledge, but a nice look. no one would get this with the intention of actually reading the books on it.
  • Linkage155, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Really cool, and fairly cheap for a piece of metal bough over the internet :)
    To make it even more invisible, the last bottom book, should be the base it self, a fake solid book, and the base hold would be inserted in the middle of the "fake book" :)
    • hriwo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/shows_hiwt/article/0,2496,HGTV_21356_4374379_14,00.html

      They already made it, I saw it on "I want that" awhile ago
    • automagically, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I'd rather use my own book. Stick the shelf support in between the book (assuming it's thin enough metal), then just use tape to keep the bottom cover from flapping open. It's a fairly cool idea though, but mostly defends on your current living style. I'm into the contemporary futuristic stuff, and even though the books are displayed neatly, I'd rather not see them at all. Now something popping out of the wall, that'd be cool :P
    • WaterDragon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"..the last bottom book, should be the base it self, a fake solid book..."

      Yeah, I thought of that too, and wondered if you had to glue the bottom cover of the bottom book to the metal...then thought maybe they supply a fake book that is part of the holder.
      Finally I concluded that there might be (or should be) an extra little ledge of metal sticking out below the back edge of the bottom book, so that it keeps the cover from opening down.

      But such a feature might raise the price well above $23, cause now it's not just an L-shaped piece of sheet metal. .
      Still, seems like an OK deal-- for those who actually BUY bookshelves!
    • skabyss, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"Stick the shelf support in between the book (assuming it's thin enough metal), then just use tape to keep the bottom cover from flapping open."

      Or you could just find a book that doesn't have any value to you and put a nice coat of glue/water between the pages, wait for it to dry and dremel out some slide-in screw holes.

      Way cheaper than £19.95 plus shipping.
  • fuelvolts, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10better yet, a L bracket that costs $0.50
    • jacko7, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3you'd want to buy more than one L bracket to hold some books (they aren't wide enough)

      good point, though
    • WaterDragon, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Where are you going to get an L - bracket, like an 8"X 8" one, for 50 cents? They are more like 80 cents to $1, each.
  • mrgreen4242, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6This is a dupe, but only by about 10 minutes... anyways, I agree it's a bit pricey for what it is, but the "special" part about it is the little tab to hold the bottom book cover up as the main support on the bottom actually goes inside the book cover.

    Still, would be pretty tivial to make one for about $2.
    • MrBound, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Agreed. Just buy a junk book from a used bookstore, screw it through an L bracket, and mount the bracket on the wall. Might not be professional, but if you have a hefty bracket, it seems to me like it would work just as well.
  • kingfoot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1well, not really an invention in my mind, but cool none the less. Although you can just go buy an L bracket from homedepot for about $5. or even make your own from some sheetmetal or possible some playwood. or maybe there is a hidden part im not seeing, either way ill try out my idea as soon as i can get to homedepot lol. digg
  • bashar129, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7what if someone want the book that is all the way on the bottom!
    • mrgreen4242, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7This isn't meant for books that you're likely to read anytime soon, me thinks. It's a decorative thing, and it'd look really nice in an office or study, imo.
  • infra172, on 10/12/2007, -10/+5In the United States we call these "shelves".
  • aaadamaa, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7do you have to nail the bottom book shut? cause it looks like the bottom cover would swing open if you diddn't
    • rushfan, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I wondered the same thing. I doubt those graphics were actual pictures. You prolly have to glue the bottom book or something
    • liquidrums, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7In soviet Russia, bottom book nails you!
    • Gatowag, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2It could be possible that they actually have the metal (or something else to that nature) sticking out at the bottom to hold the bottom cover up. Just mabye...
    • mage1129, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I agree, it looks like there is a possible lip at the bottom to keep the bottom cover in place.
  • gumpy5, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Who stacks their books vertically?

    Although it does look cool, it's not very practical.
    • MetalGod, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0People don't stack their books vertically because it will be a bee-otch to get the bottom book under all that weight.
    • zone, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1yeah, and who has books that go well together. i mean, unless it's a collection, most of mine vary in size and color and they'd look pretty awful..
  • verres, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Just a word of advice from a bookseller: I wouldn't recommend using any book you are keen on keeping as the base ... object inside book pressure time = damaged book.

    As for the bottom cover, my guess is there's some adhesive stuff on the bottom of the metal plate.. another thing that is sure to kill the book, sadly.
  • StarCrusher, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3The Sticklebook (http://www.sticklebook.com/) holds books in t eh normal vertical position, costs only $11, and look even neater, imho
    • VegaObscura3, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2This one does indeed look much better, and the books hang vertically. This one is more like a stiff comb that you put the books pages in. Sadly it only works with paperbacks and causes slight marks to the pages.
  • jshapiro, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1How is this not just spam?
  • diggerphelps, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Um, these have been available at the Container Store in the U.S. for some time now.
    No digg,
  • fluxion, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1that thing couldnt even support my stack of FHM mags
  • iWorks, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1somehow... i am not fooled by this
  • aroedl, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2Truely amazing. That's engineering at its best.
    • PossumTucker, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12I am an engineer and I resent that comment. :P
    • cinder, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6I'm not an engineer and I still resent that comment. :)
  • rickdini1, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1how does this ***** make the front page. Digg+!!!!!!
  • nicklinus, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1this was on boing boing a while ago why did it take so long to get to digg.
  • PossumTucker, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Not amasing [sic]. Badly designed. Useless. Requires drilling holes in walls. Doesn't hold many books. Have to remove all books to get to bottom one. Neither unique nor novel.

    Slow news day.
  • SnakeO, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1How do you get the bottom book out?
  • heinous, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Ugh. Such garbage! 1. Ever try removing a book from the bottom of heavy pile of books? You have to move all the other books first. 2. The bottom book cover will fly open as others have mentioned. 3. How much weight is this thing going to support? Look at the welding in the close-up picture. I've seen better welds in a high-school shop class! 4. What is the obsession with hiding a bookshelf? Architect Louis Sullivan said it best: "Form follows function." I'd need dozens of these things all over my walls to support the books I keep in three bookshelves. If you're worried about hiding the bookshelf, you're probably not too worried about reading the books. Here's a simple solution: sell or donate the books you don't read instead of hanging them on your wall to show off.
  • otherland, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1A stack of books can get pretty heavy. What type of mounting hardware are they using with such a narrow shelf...
    • brandizzle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The kind that won't work after you put more than four or five books on it.
  • johnnylin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2to be honest, i dont know why 100+ people dugg this article.
    it's not actually invisible.
    floating books arent conventional, especially stacked horizontally.
    why did people find this so interesting?
    • levyjl1988, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1dunno, but it looks cool, not meant to be conventional in anyway, just for the looks.
    • resplence, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Because, as the original post goes, "the books really do look like they're floating".

      So far this piece has 290+ diggs but only 39 comments, most of which were somehow negative. It's just a matter how interesting it is to different kinds of people. The article is valid, and in all fairness, I've seen far much more uninsteresting stuff get higher diggs. Sites like Digg, Boing Boing, Slashdot, etc, were never really a standard for quality content anyway.
  • JStrider, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1looked at some other web pages that carry it

    it screws into the wall

    the bottom cover of the bottom book catches on a small lip just big enough to hold the cover up.

    and it holds 15 lbs.
  • daggerhart, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1i dont really think its that cool.

    sure, in theory, we all have friends over and each of them say, 'wow! how are those books doing that?' and they're all impressed and *****...

    but then we answer by saying, 'its an invisible bookshelf.'
    then they ask, 'really?'
    and we answer, '... no. it's actually just a bent piece of metal.'
    they say, ' .. oh...' .

    ... see. not actually cool... once you play out the whole scene.
  • gooddiggs, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Not that "invisible", is it??? I still prefer conventional bookshelves...
  • hepaliga, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I thought it was cool at first too. But then it seemed to be just another instance of style over substance - how disappointing.
  • peerk, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I find the LIFO nature of this bookshelf highly inconvenient.
  • hobbla87, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0this seems pretty cool, I'll make sure to put a bunch of these right above all the chairs against the wall in my house. I can't wait to see people constantly looking up to check whether some books are about to fall on top of their heads:)
  • mikeazorin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Looking at the pics, I've thought of a cooler way to do this. Just have one large fake book screwed to the wall, and just place others books on top of that. Eh, eh?
    • Archon810, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1that's exactly what I was thinking.
  • converge, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The would be good next to my bed for the few books I'm currently reading. I don't think its designed for long-term storage of a lot of books.
  • mapkinase, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2This is a perfect bookshelf for people who do not read books and use them for design.
    • templest, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Or for people that read books a lot, such as myself. I'm constantly switching between cross-referencing and actively reading books. While: http://www.sticklebook.com/ , is the one I'm going to get to mount above the desk to easily switch from one to the other, that Umbra one I'll get for less commonly read books that I still need easy access to from time to time, probably a little higher on the wall.

      Besides, while books are for reading, book*shelves* are *all* about design. ;-)
    • mage1129, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@ mapkinase

      So I guess anyone who stacks their books vertically must not like to read them. The shelves can't hold that much weight so it is not like it would be that hard to remove the stack to get the book you want.

      I just wonder how sturdy the books are while sitting there. I mean if gravity is the only force keeping the books in place then any banging on the walls, especially sheetrock walls, may cause a book slide.
  • Camsta, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Strange... dugg.
  • templest, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I have a ton of paper-backs that this would do nicely for. The only real inconvenience would be if one day I want to read one of the books at the bottom of the pile. On the bright side, I'm going to buy three of the alternate ones the article links to instead, http://www.sticklebook.com/ It's so freakin' cool. Can quickly pull them off the shelf and put them back in, saves space, and looks sweet. Really neat for putting books I'm actively reading or referencing on top of the desk area for easy access without cluttering the desk itself. *Really* neat.

    Oh, and if you live in Canada, if you go straight to www.umbra.com you can buy the same shelf this article is referring to for $14.50 ;-)
  • vonskippy, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3Good thing Digg.com exists so that high tech crap like this (wow, it's a metal bracket) can make it to the front page.

    Hey Kevin Rose - Better Homes and Garden called - they want their idea for a crappy website back.
    • mage1129, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2no one made you look at the website, just ignore, don't digg and move on.
  • WaterDragon, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Usually, a nicely finished wooden bookshelf makes a room look much better than just a sloppy stack of floating books of all different colors and sizes.
    A lovely OAK-shelved library has a really good feel to it.

    So, maybe this article is just spam, just an ad for something already available, but not popular. (see comment above re: The Container Store, in the US)

    Here's where I work. Click 'the library' for an example. It is beautiful, warm, all fine-finished oak.
    http://innon23rd.com/rooms.html
    • mage1129, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It is more a novelty then anything. In addition Oak bookcases cost a hell of a lot more then these things.
  • mindwalker, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4No transparent aluminum?
  • roxy1357, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0seems cool, but could look odd just in the middle of a wall.
    • mage1129, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Is there any place floating books would look normal?
    • WaterDragon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3"Is there any place floating books would look normal?"

      In the ocean!
    • daggerhart, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2in the future !
  • ChiKoo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0This is just straight up nifty. Too bad it's $53392011835 dollars for metal.
  • Technopundit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Bah. It'll sag, anyway.
  • devinh, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Use that $23 to pay for your Peachpit account. Leave all other books on the floor next to your bed.
  • firebush, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I just thought of a better product that'll make me rich! INVISIBLE COAT HANGER! Make your coat look like its floating!

    Looking for investers...
  • dupswapdrop, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Go to hardware store ask for a bracket!
    Big hint don't go to "***** depot" they can't find any.
  • Blazenhoff, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I got two of these from Eurway in Austin for $11.99 each. They are made by Umbra and require drilling very large holes into your wall.
  • majoogybobber, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Lame.
  • meleeglow, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Stupid sorry, bad price for an accident prone setup. If you made it your self you would need to temper it, no metal would hold up if you could DIY it, corrigation would defeat purpose or it would be to thick. I'm not flameing but its not really techie, just a house warming gift that sould not be used, and at that price no wonder they can't get enough mass production to make it cheaper.

    NO DIGG

    not because I'm an ass but just no real validity
  • Lou3000, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0It isn't to put all of your books on and the function of vertically stacked books is irrelevant. DWR.com sells the Sapien Bookcase and it looks pretty amazing if you have ever seen one in person.

    How many of your nice hardback books do you get down daily to read. Your stack of pornos should be the bed, not on the wall.
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