Michel Ducaroy Modular Bookcase System for Roche Bobois, 1970

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Michel Ducaroy Modular Bookcase System for Roche Bobois, Smoked Plexiglass and Aluminum, France, 1970.

This modular bookcase system was designed by Michel Ducaroy for Roche Bobois in France in 1970. Four slender aluminum uprights on adjustable feet carry a composition of shelves and cubes in smoked Plexiglass. Each element is fixed to the uprights with slotted screws, so it can be moved along their height. The elements come in two forms: shallow bent trays with a returned back panel, and deeper open boxes with softly radiused corners. The arrangement can read as a regular grid or as a staggered, almost architectural wall. The transparency defines the system. Light passes through the bent edges, which read as fine graphic lines, and the shelves cast their shadows onto the wall behind. The piece changes with the room around it. The aluminum is left unpainted and the hardware stays visible, in keeping with the technical language of French storage furniture from the early 1970s.