As a collector of books, lover of good storage and a shelf-styling addict, I'm swooning over this new release from Carl Hansen & Son. Flexible and elegant, the FK Bookcase System is designed by Danish duo Preben Fabricius and Jørgen Kastholm, and embodies Carl Hansen & Son's commitment to excellent craftsmanship and timeless design.
Achieving worldwide recognition for their unique aesthetics and sculptural understanding — Preben Fabricius trained as a cabinetmaker, and Jørgen Kastholm as a smith — the FK Bookcase System was one of their first designs to be honoured with an award when it was presented at the Copenhagen Cabinetmakers' Guild Furniture Exhibition in 1963. Consisting of square modules in two depths, the bookcase can hang on the wall or sit on the floor, and be rotated so that the shelves are either tall or wide. Depending on requirements, it can also be customised with shelves, drawers and doors. Minimalist and ingenious, the design of the units pays homage to proud craftsmanship traditions by highlighting, among other things, the beautiful mortise joints. Beautiful and stable, they are a key element in the Bookcase design.
Knud Erik Hansen, CEO of Carl Hansen & Son, says: "Simple designs are often the hardest to conceive, and Fabricius Kastholm's Bookcase System demonstrates in the finest possible way the design duo's understanding of simplicity without compromising on functionality, craftsmanship or aesthetics. We're therefore delighted to be welcoming Fabricius and Kastholm to the Carl Hansen & Son collection.”
The Bookcase System is made of solid oak at Carl Hansen & Son's factory in Gelsted on Funen, Denmark, and it takes many hours of painstaking joinery work before the finished shelves can be shipped to customers worldwide. Sanding the beautiful mortise joints to produce a smooth and silky-soft surface is a particularly time-consuming process. The installation of the doors also requires extreme precision, and they are adjusted by hand to ensure perfect symmetry. The drawers are always made of ash which contrasts elegantly with the oak. A spring ball catch is fitted at the bottom of each door, producing a discreet click when the door is closed. Thomas Kastholm, son of Jørgen Kastholm, says:
"We had the bookcase system in my childhood home, and I loved the sounds that the doors made when my parents opened them. The discreetly mounted ball catches produce a gentle clicking sound which I loved - the effect similar to that of the sound of a door closing on a luxury car."
