DI: What is the main principle, idea and inspiration behind your design?
: We wanted to create a book storage arrangement, outside the rationale of the traditional shelving system.
DI: What has been your main focus in designing this work? Especially what did you want to achieve?
: Considering the fact that we live in a global community, we wanted to achieve an eco-focused, sustainable book storage system with minimal "carbon footprint".
DI: How long did it take you to design this particular concept?
: It took us two months.
DI: Why did you design this particular concept? Was this design commissioned or did you decide to pursuit an inspiration?
: We pursuited our inspiration.
DI: Who is the target customer for his design?
: Anyone who wishes to escape from the boredomness of one more shelving system and minimise his environmental impact.
DI: What sets this design apart from other similar or resembling concepts?
: The “Fa.B.” contributes to achieving a "greener" environment, by concept, design, production and usage. “Fa.B.” is made of birch plywood. Birch wood- a tree native to Europe- when harvested from sustainably managed forests poses lower environmental and biodiversity risks than those from tropical and subtropical trees.The fabric units are made a recyclable, resilient, stain resistant, wrinkle-free fabric. It is derived from 100% annually renewable resources such as field corn already grown for many industrial & functional end-uses. The castors allow you to move your fully loaded “Fa.B.” around the room effortlessly– as opposed to the traditional bookcase. They are made of steel and rubber. Steel is a 100% recyclable metal and rubber can be turned into rubber mulch which is used to make playgrounds safer for kids. The “Fa.B.” is a foldable – literally!- and easy to assemble flat-pack furniture. Self-assembly helps to reduce volume and thus carbon dioxide’s emissions, during transportation.
DI: How did you come up with the name for this design? What does it mean?
: The name "FA.B." consists of the initial letters of the words "FAbric Bookcase" and at the same time is short for "fabulous".
DI: What is the most unique aspect of your design?
: The “Fa.B.” is a fabric bookcase and a fabulous new way to store, arrange and protect your books and magazines. It is suitable for your home and office and it can be used as a bookcase and a room divider at the same time. Outside the rationale of any shelving system, “Fa.B.” offers the user renewable storage space. A single or more modular fabric units can be added to the wooden stand in a few minutes. In this way, every time your storage needs increase you don’t have to purchase more shelves or even a new bookcase. The durable fabric along with the wide open wooden sides of “Fa.B.” gives us the opportunity to use as little raw materials and natural resources as possible, according to the "dematerialization" approach that our times require.