LADDER // shelving system

•

Brief
The goal of the six-weeks long university project was to come up with an innovative but low-key storage system for a selected society of ours. I chose career starters in their 20s and 30s, because the typical lack of a living space is particularly affecting their age group. A lot of them believe they would never have their own apartment, so they move to one place together in smaller groups.

All this led to the fusion of traditional rooms and the disintegration of classic home arrangements. Multifunctional rooms pop up, blurring the boundary between the living room, bedroom, dining room, and kitchen. Therefore, some of the furniture specifically designed for these areas will become obsolete, and due to the large number of movings from one apartment to another, residents will own less and less furniture. I wanted to solve this problem by designing a storage system that is responsive and is a capable product in these new, merged spaces.

Process
I collected all the basic types of products we use in our flats to come up with a shelving system that could be used to store them. Modularity and adaptability were keywords here. I also researched furniture joint mechanisms that doesn’t require steel fasteners for an easy assembly and shipping.

I simultaneously researched, built scale models, and designed the final product to determine a usable, clear shape. I decided to use two major elements: a steel frame and a system of trays, small and big, deep and shallow. In terms of aesthetics, it draws inspiration from work shelving systems to make a no-nonsense, straightforward impression.

Concept
Ladder is a shelving system based on steel frames that can be arranged in a lot of ways – mainly on top of each other. The surface of the frames is powder coated in black. The other essential element is a stackable wooden tray that can slide on the frame. These features allow the customers to use a variety of layouts.