The Amazing House of Bookshelves

by Stephen J. Gertz

The wooden structure at center appears to be a standard residence.

But step inside and it is anything but standard.

The client, living in Moriguchi, Osaka, Japan, owned an extensive collection of books centering upon Islamic history. He wanted a combination private residence-study with maximum capacity for storage and exhibition of his library.  So, in 2006, the Kazuya Morita Architecture Studio of Kyoto designed the Shelf Pod, in essence a house of bookshelves with a bed and bathroom.

Pinch me. Am I dreaming?

"In order to satisfy this demand effectively, we designed a lattice structure made from 25mm thick laminated pine-board which serve as book-shelves. The dimensions of each shelf are as follows: 360mm height, 300mm width and 300mm depth. All of the architectural elements in this space (stairs, windows, desks, chairs, etc) have been designed on the basis of this shelf scale, with the aim of achieving geometrical harmony which is comparable to Islamic Architecture. This innovative structural system affords not only large amount of book storage, but the possibility of flexible floor level which can be delivered from every height of bookshelf. Each space for different activity rise up helically, giving the impression of exploring a wooden jungle gym.

"The original image of this structure is derived from the Japanese woodcraft of Kumiko (lattice). The structural integrity against an earthquake is provided by a panel of plywood board nailed on the shelf. Initially, the horizontal resistant force guaranteed by the panels was examined in a real-scale model. Further to this, an analysis of the whole structure was performed in order to determine the placement of the windows and panels. The inter-locking laminated pine-board was manufactured precisely in advance and assembled on-site. Similarly, the pyramid-shaped roof was assembled on-site, from 12 pieces of prefabricated wooden roof panel. The completed roof has a thickness of only 230mm and sensitively covers the whole space like the dome of a Mosque.

"In addition to its unique structure, the outer wall employs the construction techniques of a traditional Japanese storehouse Dozou. The bamboo net wall foundation layer was attached to the lattice structure and the clay and straw mixture was applied to the foundation by the trowel. Then the red cedar panels forms exterior wall. The interior clay wall was finished with white plaster. These techniques are in accordance with urban fireproofing specifications, as well as maintaining a suitably humid environment for the storage of books."

In a bathroom flush with bookshelves
you'd need Ex-Lax to get me out of there.

 Site : Moriguchi, JAPAN
Design : Kazuya Morita Architecture Studio / Kazuya Morita ,Issei Kawashima.
Structural Engineer : Mitsuda Structural Consultant.
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With thanks to Elmar Seibel of Ars Libri Ltd, who led me to Alex Johnson and his wonderful Bookshelf Blog, which led me to  the Kazuya Morita Architecture Studio.
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Book Shelves and Book Lovers Get the Full Monte at Library

by Stephen J. Gertz

Don't judge this man's book by its cover - or lack of one.

The ninth floor of D.H. Hill Library at North Carolina State University was the ninth ring of hell for patrons - and books - when a man, his epidermis bared and showing in its entirety, went on a rampage, knocking books off of shelves and threatening onlookers with, beyond a sore for sight-eyes, violence.

According to Capt. Jon Barnwell, Campus Police found the man just after 11 p.m. without his clothes, "agitated and in an altered mental state. It appears he may have been under the influence of some sort of drug," Barnwell said.

You think?

Alex Stewart, a freshman, said the naked man ran into the women's restroom on the ninth floor when police arrived. Barnwell said the suspect was not aggressive toward campus cops.

"I was passing the bookshelves and I heard all this noise. I turned and I see this white dude, butt-naked, he's just tearing up bookshelves," Stewart said. "It was crazy. I thought ‘Wow, is this guy crazy? Is he on drugs?'"

Fascinated by his behavior, fifteen people, according to Stewart, stood by and observed the spectacle. "He started coming up to us threatening to fight us," Stewart said. "He asked [students] if they wanted to die, and then he continued wrecking bookshelves."

"It was about 1,400 [books] just from estimates," one present in the aftermath said. "He wasn't doing it half-assed. It was all or nothing for this guy." Full-ass, full frontal, the full-monte.

Barnwell said the man was not arrested, but was taken to Rex Hospital to undergo medical evaluation.

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Full story at TechnicianOnline.com.

With thanks, as always, to LISNews for the lead.

Image courtesy of Scott Cartiedge.

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A Bookshelf 153 Miles Long

by Stephen J. Gertz

The Bodleian Library's new BSF, where books will be stored
in a state-of-the-art facility.
Photo credit: John Lawrence/The Independent.

Oxford's  Bodleian Library has a new home for its collection of six million books and more than 1.2 million maps, with room to spare for another two million.

The new Book Storage Facility (BSF) looks like a warehouse on the outside. On the inside it has the equivalent of 153 miles of storage shelf space.

Residing in a salt mine for the last few years, over the next twelve months the Bodleian's books, excluding its most popular and historic volumes, will be transferred to the BSF.

"The BSF will prove a long-awaited solution to the space problem that has long challenged the Bodleian," said its head librarian Dr Sarah Thomas. "We have been running out of space since the 1970s and the situation has become increasingly desperate in the last few years."

It was important to preserve all the books, Dr Thomas continued, "so that future generations will have access to the recorded information of the past."

"Now we can look to the future with confidence that we are preserving one of the world's most complete records of the written word in state-of-the-art secure archival conditions," she added.

The 153 miles of storage space includes 37 foot-high racks on 31 narrow aisles, each of which are 233 feet long. There are a total of 3,224 bays with 95,000 shelf levels in the warehouse, as well as 600 map cabinets.

If you request a book - and the Bodleian anticipates 200,000 requests a year - at 10 AM, it will be in your hands in Oxford by 3PM the next day.

If late, free pizza from Domino's?
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Full story at The Independent.

With thanks to LISNews for the lead.
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The Rare Book Guy wrote about storing books in salt mines, the perfect way to store them.
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Chippendale Bookcase, c. 1765, Estimated at $700K-$1M

by Stephen J. Gertz

The Messer Chippendale Secretaire Library Bookcase
99 in. (251.5 cm) high; 79 in. (199.5 cm) wide; 24 1/2 in. (162.5 cm) deep.

Need bookshelf space but Ikea won't cut it? Want to move up into shelving that makes a statement, as in, Lottery Winner!?

In New York, on October 21, 2010, Christies is offering the Samuel Messer Chippendale Secretaire Library Bookcase, a George III ebony-inlaid mahogany art cabinet attributed to Thomas Chippendale, c. 1765, as part of its 500 Years: Decorative Arts Europe sale.

Christies, which originally sold the piece as part of its Messer Collection of English Furniture sale in 1991, estimates it will sell for $700,000 to $1,000,000.

"Of stepped breakfront outline, the central section with imbricated and ebony-veneered swan's neck cresting centered by a platform over a fiddleback mahogany cross-grained frieze, the central door with glazing bars centered by a foliate C-scroll cartouche suspended from husk chairs and within an arch and lozenge tablets, the side sections with pierced hexagon-pattern galleries and later draped urn ebony-inlaid finials over glazed doors of a similar arched and lozenge design headed by a clasp, the three doors enclosing mahogany-fronted shelves, the base with a secretaire drawer fitted with a baize-lined double ratchet easel and two mahogany-lined side drawers (one divided) over three long drawers all mounted with original foliate-cast gilt-lacquered handles, flanked by a pair of cut-corner cupboard doors, the whole inlaid in ebony with stylized foliate scrolls, and broad lines in geometric patterns of cut-corner and circular panels, with ebonized-molded base, the hinges of top drawer stamped H. TIBATS, and labeled G. JETLEY/24, BRUTON ST. BERKELEY SQ. WI, the central platform support and finials later, the underside of plinth with yellow wash over an apparently original red wash" (From Christies' catalog description).

And, unlike Ikea book shelves, no assembly required.

(That catalog note is one of the most  objectively observed, keenly articulate, yet lyrical descriptions that I have read in quite a while. The prose sings, the report enchants,  by the end you're in a trance).

The volumes that could have filled this bookcase in 1765 may likely have included books that were issued in that year, first editions new then but rare books now:

• Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Lawrence Stern  (vols. 7 and 8).
• The Fool of Quality by Henry Brooke.
• Works of William Collins.
• The Works of Ossian (James Macpherson).
• Commentaries on the Laws of England by William Blackstone.
• A Complete History of England by Thomas Smollett.
• An Essay on a Course of Liberal Education for Civil and Active Life by  Joseph Priestley.
• Essays by Oliver Goldsmith.
• The Plays of William Shakespeare, edited by Samuel Johnson.
• A Review of Doctor Johnson's New Edition of Shakespeare by William Kenrick.

But I like to think that the very wealthy gentleman of the Age of Enlightenment who originally bought it was one with an interest in Shakespeare and also owned a First Folio, and a Gutenberg. He had an interest in science and so possessed first  editions of  Copernicus, Galileo. and other greats. Early printing fascinated him; he had an eye for incunabula.

If those books come with the bookcase at the Christies sale bump up the estimate a few million or so.
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