Let’s Get Organised with AJAR

Shelves come in diverse shapes, forms, styles, and functionalities. From pantry shelves to the sturdy wall-spanning timber bookshelf and the sculptural living room centrepiece, shelves and shelving systems can do several things at once: organising our belongings, decorating, and giving character to a room. When it comes to shelves, the difficulty—mentioned above—in balancing between aesthetics and functionality stems from the fact that this balance is not limited to the design of shelving furniture itself, but it has to be achieved by also considering the other objects that will be placed on it. A second balancing act comes into play: that between storage and display. Is the shelf meant to hide away things such as documents and household items, or showcase sculptural or artistic objects in a unique way? Or perhaps both at the same time? Will it take a background role, serving as a stylish pedestal for a series of sculptural objects or as the support for a well-assorted personal library? Or should the shelving furniture itself assume a protagonist role, having the objects placed on it serve as carefully placed highlights or accents?

In AJAR’s curated catalogue of Spanish furniture, you will find several hand-picked shelving pieces and systems which can help you achieve this careful balance in the way most suited to your needs. Let’s take a brief look at some of the best furniture we have to offer.

 Treku modular shelving systems – Best furniture

Treku is a furniture company based in Zarautz—a coastal town in the Basque Country. Although for several centuries Zarautz was known for its shipyards, in the late 19th century it turned towards the fabrication of some of the best furniture in the region. It is here that Jesús Aldabaldetreku started as a small and modest carpentry shop in 1947, nowadays a world-renowned manufacturer of designer furniture which is still managed by his direct progeny to this day. There are two excellent shelving systems from Treku that we would like to show you: Bost and Kai. Both are self-standing modular systems that can serve both as sideboards, bookshelves, or as large space dividers.

The Bost shelving system was designed by the Valencian studio Yonoh, and is one of those rare designs that stands out for its sheer simplicity, top-tier quality of materials, and flawlessly designed unions. This last feature ought to be highlighted—it takes a highly experienced designer to craft such clean steel-wood junctures. The Bost is very straightforward: a thin tubular steel structure with timber shelves and boxes with matching finish. However, from thereon everything is customisable. The steel structure comes in 17 different lacquers (from black and white to several tones of green, orange, and ochre) and 7 different wood finishes. You can take a look at the options here. Additionally, there are several different module sizes to configure various setups and create the best furniture to suit your needs. The one featured on our website is constituted by two modules which add up to a total of 300 cm x 150 cm.

The next shelving system is the Kai, designed by Jean-Louis Iratzoki. This design has more visual weight than the Bost, which makes it ideal to use to divide a space—say, to separate the living room from the dining area in an apartment or loft with an open plan layout. Its structure is made from veneered beech plywood, while the shelves come in either veneer or lacquer. Like the Bost, the options for customisation are generous with several options for dividers, back panels and shelves.

Tusquet and Clotet’s classics

Next up are two aluminium shelves that have been around for a while. Designed by the famous architects Oscar Tusquets and Lluís Clotet for BD Barcelona in 1979 and 1988 respectively, the Hypóstila and Cornisa are two pieces that we would not hesitate to classify as classics of late 20th-century industrial design and some of the best furniture when it comes to shelves. Both of them are made from pieces of extruded aluminium and can be ordered in custom-cut sizes.

Winner of the Golden Opinion Delta Award in 1980, the Hypóstila shelves are supported by vertical aluminium tubes, all of them with a brushed and anodised silver finish, and can be fixed to the wall with additional zinc pieces. Arguably, this is an example of what industrial design can look when you capitalise on the technical details: a rugged piece that looks like it just came straight out from the factory and directly into your living room, but which also manages to be classy and stylish. The maximum measurements for the Hypósitla is 400cm in height and 250cm for the shelves.

The Cornisa shelves are something like the postmodern cousin of the Hypóstila. Clearly showing the influence of the postmodern movement in architecture that took place in the 80s and 90s, the Cornisa is a series of endearing floating pieces of extruded aluminium inspired by the traditional shape of cornices. They are directly bolted to the wall and they come in two different depths: 15cm and 26cm. Like the Hypóstila, they can be cut to any size up to 250cm. Additionally, they can be ordered in aluminium anodized black, painted white or customised (in any RAL colour).

Although remarkably distinct from the Hypóstila, the latter’s clean aesthetics and simplicity reminds us of another wall shelf: the Keel. The Keel is a single standing solid oak piece inspired by the shape of a boat’s keel (the lengthwise steel or timber structure along the base of a vessel). Designed by Viccarbe’s founder Victor Carrasco himself, the Keel offers you a simple, gestural and sculptural piece, which is then up to you to combine and arrange into many different exciting compositions. The Keel comes in four different stained oak finishes: matte, cognac, wenge, and ash.

Systemtronic and Mobles 114

Baldas is another piece designed by Victor Carrasco, this time for the Valencian brand Systemtronic. Once again we can see Carrasco’s masterful implementation of simple elements to create designs that present a strong visual statement and give users a chance to explore different arrangements by themselves. Baldas is a set of modular shelves that come in vertical and horizontal (as well as different colour finishes), allowing you to combine them in various compositions. You might want to put a couple of horizontal stripes along a whole wall, or perhaps alternate vertical and horizontal elements. You might want to play alternating empty spaces punctuated with objects such as a portable table lamp, a flower vase, or other bits and pieces of decor. You can look at some examples in the datasheet.

To conclude, we would like to show you two additional modular shelving systems with a wide range of options and configurations to choose from. Also designed by Mario Ruiz for Systemtronic, the Wing is a collection of shelves made from an extruded aluminium body and stainless steel fixtures. Another of our versatile modular systems: it comes in wall, freestanding, and corner versions, in different sizes (160cm or 80cm width) and finishes (12 colours to choose from), and also presents a wide range of accessories to choose from (trays, file holders, drawers, enclosures). It’s difficult to imagine a space that would not be suited to a set of Wing shelves in one of its possible configurations. The possibilities are potentially endless! You might want to take a look at one of their galleries to see some examples of this polyvalent piece of Spanish furniture.

Designed by JM Massana and JM Tremoleda for Mobles 114, the Tria is another highly versatile modular shelving system, also available in self-standing and wall options, as well as in different depths (36cm and 24cm) and lengths (90cm and 60cm). It combines a light (8mm and 5mm thick) steel rod structure with different shelves and accessories available in 6 different lacquers and 3 wood veneers. It is a shelving system with an aesthetic that sits comfortably between the domestic and the commercial, making it one of the best furniture pieces around. We can imagine it sitting in an art and design bookshop somewhere, making good use of the inclined shelf accessory to display the latest arrivals.

These are just a handful of examples of the shelving pieces and systems available in AJAR’s Spanish furniture catalogue. As you could see above, several of the modular shelving systems are highly customisable and adaptable. If you are interested in more information about available sizes, colours, and accessories, you can send us an email at info@ajar.com.au. Or perhaps you need a bit more personalised advice—we know that choosing the right modules and accessories can be overwhelming! If this is the case, you can also book a consultation with us.