Book Vending Machines

I love this innovative reclaimed use of these old cigarette vending machines from German publisher Hamburger Automatenverlag
Read the full article on this at Coolhunting

A is for...a place to sit

(images; swissmiss, Utrechtverplettert, Design*Sponge)

Bookshelf Porn

If you are anything like me, a self confessed bookshelf pornographer and watcher, you will spend hours on Bookshelf Porn. Its purpose is to stimulate, inspire and feed the frenzy of your addiction...enjoy and try not to drool too much on your computer.



(image: swissmiss)

The Ark: Where Architecture and Books meet

Rintala Eggertsson Architects, Oslo and Bodø, Norway - Ark from Victoria and Albert Museum on Vimeo.

Did you also manage to spot Cloud Atlas?

Read The Guardian's report:
The bookcase you'll want to live in

March of the Penguin

Happy belated 75th Birthday Penguin Books.



The influence of Penguin Books as a recognizable iconic brand on popular culture is as irrefutable as their approach to publishing and their impact on the paperback design as we know it today. The initial two and half cents editions with their three horizontal bands, colour coded to match to a particular series, have become sought after jewels for book collectors and lately a springboard for art and decor inspiration. Not only does Penguin Books publish great classics and new exciting, contemporary and award winning authors but they seem always as in 1936 one step ahead in their design aesthetic approach for book covers. Here is a small ode to the publishing giant and a demonstration of how the mighty Penguin has infiltrated art, design, culture and our everyday existence.

ART


Harland Miller, artist and writer, has approached the iconic Penguin classic in a rather humouristic, hard hitting satirical way which refuses to be ignored and is allegedly adorning the walls of one Sir Elton John. Browsing through them I can not help but snort with unapologetic laughter at some while simultaneously admiring them. Read more on Harland Miller at Whitecube, Millers London Gallery and his interview with The Guardian




COVER DESIGN
Penguin has taken cover design into a new direction with a collaborating initiative aimed at saving lives. They have partnered with RED™ in their ongoing effort to raise funds to eliminate AIDS in Africa. The campaign which reads 'These books saves lives' has commissioned designers to rejacket 8 of the Penguins' most well known classics to form part of the Penguin Red Editions series.

Some of my favourite of these designs are:


GREAT EXPECTATIONS
ISBN:9780141194363
Charles Dickens R140.00
‘The most nakedly haunting book Dickens ever wrote’ Guardian


THE SECRET AGENT
ISBN:9780141194394
Joseph Conrad R110.00
‘Elevated the spy story into literature in a way that would inspire Greene
and le Carré’ Observer

For more information on the Penguin Red Editions click here

MEMORABILIA


Postcards from Penguin is a collection of 100 postcards featuring some of Penguin's most iconic book covers spanning over seventy years. Mine has just arrived and it is hard to choose which ones will adorn my wall or be sent off to equally bookish friends.



Postcards from Penguin
ISBN: 978014104468
R 230

There are also coffee mugs and even deck chairs inspired by Penguin covers for the die hard fans, just reach for the Google search button.

(images: Remodelista, In between days, Apartment Therapy)

Flattering curves

"As a contemporary designer I try to meet the needs of the whole human being by designing furniture that is simultaneously meaningful for the spirit, beautiful for the soul, and nurturing for the body.” - Haldane Martin


As the world’s attention is still very much locked on South Africa so we continue our focus on South African book related themes. One of my favorite SA designers, Haldane Martin who is based in Cape Town, created the most beautiful and visually pleasing shelving system I have had the pleasure to lay my eyes on, New Slant Shelves. It has been the object of desire of many of my interior/perfect home library/aspiring bookshop fantasies.



At first glance its curves seems like an optical illusion but a closer look reveals each individual modular slanted shelf can be moved, adjusted and organized on the whim and creativity of its owner through its clever magnetic system. It is a piece of design that is as alive with movement and flow as the text and contents of the books and items that would love to be housed and showcased within it, all in unison speaking against what was once perceived as static forms. And its boldest statement: that it is proudly and sustainably made in South Africa.



(images: Haldane Martin, Apartment Therapy, Elle Deco SA)

Updated Jozi Skyline shelf

New Moon Africa's Jozi Icons floating shelf has made a timely appearance with its updated Johannesburg skyline which now includes Soccer City and the Soweto. It is made out of brushed stainless steel and bamboo and designed by Angus Wing.

Keeping it local: Jozi bookends

For the duration of the Soccer World Cup we are turning our attention to all things local and book related. These beautiful brushed stainless steel Jozi bookends by Fanie van Zyl are a wonderful ode to the city that is alive with gees, ayoba-ness and of course books.




On order at Batch R395

Feeling Bookish

The last couple of months a lot of people have been asking me how I feel about e-book readers and their effect on the book industry and it has been a hard question to answer. As with any product (please excuse me for reducing the book to such a commercial driven term) or industry trying to survive in an ever changing and unpredictable economic climate it is vital to keep up to date and stay in trend with technology which seems to be the main driving force in industries. Refusing to do so could be detrimental. That said the bibliophile in me can not fathom how the sensory pleasure of book and bookshop could ever be digitized.

While some have been preaching the demise of both the tangible book and the independent bookshop, their influences are undeniable on our culture as well as on the way we dwell. Enough so to have brought about these amazing book inspired designs that have been showcased most recently this month at the BKLYN Design show and the ICFF in New York. These designs do not only speak volumes about the book as an aesthetically pleasing object but are ode like creations aimed at the book as symbolic representation of where we have been, what we have accomplished and the impact of their contents that have irrevocably shaped our lives.

It goes without saying that the e-book has some dauntingly large shoes to fill and after looking at these designs it makes me say with a hint of pleasure...kindle who?


Shelving system Hold on Tight by Colleen & Eric via Design Sponge


BookLight by Myungseo Kang via Elle Deco SA


Faktura bookshelf via Apartment Therapy



The Duo bookshelf by Ana Linares via Apartment Therapy and Supermarket

Some novel ideas from our favourite friends

It has been quiet on the blog front as the silly season with its hectic schedules has managed to consume our lives. But we at The Paperhouse Review have managed to keep sourcing some great innovative book-themed designs, courtesy of our favourite blogs and magazines. Luckily for us, they seem to appreciate book culture as much as we do, as they continue to wow us with each new, ingenious way to display our treasured reads.

Here are some of the best ideas we've seen the last few months.

Apartment Therapy


Lili Lite



Bookshelf-annotation by Lau Design



Bookrest by Lars Nilsson



October 2009 ELLE Decoration UK Edition




Slim Shelving



London Landmark Bookends by Susan Bradley Design

To store or to display?

Judging a book by its cover has become an ambiguous term in our day and age, where the cover design of a book as a means of branding its author (through the use of certain fonts, for instance) has become an integral part of publishing and book buying. We do not necessarily think of books as aesthetic objects, but the lines are becoming more and more blurred as books also become functional, not only because of their contents, but because of how we use them within our dwellings. It seems that they bring as much pleasure to the eyes as they do to our ever-inquiring minds. So whether you decide to store or display your treasured reads, here is some helpful inspiration via some of our favourite websites and books (of course).


This beautiful arrangement will make it difficult to get to that elusive book at the bottom, but makes for a great feature wall in this San Fransico home as seen on ApartmentTherapy.


For more ideas on how to make your living spaces come alive and how to inject a bit of your soul into a room, I strongly recommend Alan Power's Living with Books which has over the years become a neverending source of inspiration.
Publisher: Mitchell Beazley represented by Penguin Books
ISBN: 9781845331818
Publication date: April 2006
Retail Price: R230


For storage solutions with a aesthetic twist, we found this detailed bookshelf by San Francisco Architects Aiden Darling on Remodelista.



A new book that caught our eye with practical storage solutions for books and other every day items that may clutter your living space is Storage: Get organized by Terence Conran.
Publisher: Conran Octopus represented by Penguin Books
ISBN: 9781840914344
Publication date: March 2008
Retail price: R320

Bookshelves and Bookends

If you are looking for a D.I.Y. project for your book collection at home, have a blank wall to spare and consider yourself handy with a piece of wood, why not take some inspiration from the Tier shelving unit by Hivemindesign, a design company from Brooklyn, New York.



For an eye catching and unusual way to keep your books upright, why not use some industrial equipment as a bookend. Or you can buy this one from Cool Material for $34 (R270).