Secret Cubic Shelves

Overview

Secret Cubic Shelves is a shelving system by the artist Olafur Eliasson for Moroso. It derives from a stackable rhomboid module that has featured in his work since 2015.

Construction

The structure has a powder coat finish and the shelves are mounted with screws at a fixed distance. The glides are height-adjustable PVC. Each shelf takes up to 45 kg. Brackets supplied with the shelves fix them to the wall, and black brackets hook bookshelves to one another.

Specifications

• Overall size: W 1100 x D 550 x H 2230 mm
• Finish: powder coat, non-toxic
• Shelves: screwed on at a fixed distance
• Glides: height-adjustable PVC
• Maximum shelf capacity: 45 kg
• Colours: 4

A module from the Berlin studio

The shelves come from a stackable rhomboid module that Einar Thorsteinn (1942–2015) invented and that Olafur Eliasson and Thorsteinn developed as one of many geometric studies at the studio in Berlin. Two identical cubes are rotated along a common diagonal axis until the edges of both are divided according to the golden ratio. Drawing lines where the faces intersect, and cutting away the rest, leaves a polyhedron of twelve triangular faces.

From a 2017 prototype to a new edition

A prototype in multiplex and steel was produced in 2017. The new edition has a non-toxic powder coating and a solid, durable construction, and its short supply chain reduces waste of resources, raw materials and energy. It was created with the technical partner Fantin. Eliasson describes the shelves as constructed around absence, reflecting a hidden geometry that eludes immediate comprehension.