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Japanese Architect Presents A Special Bookshelf For Book Lovers Who Live In Seismic Zones
The city of Yokohama in Japan, the second biggest city in the country with a population of 3.7 million people, has a very Japanese problem. Earthquakes. Even though this word revives macabre imagery of entire buildings collapsing that most of us have seen on TV, there are many more earthquakes that are not that cataclysmic. Annually, about 1500 earthquakes happen in Japan. If all of them would be that bad, the situation could easily get out of control. Thankfully, most of these earthquakes are mild and they result in causing an unwanted domestic clutter of stuff that falls down from the shelves. Especially books. Thankfully, Japanese architect Shinsuke Fujii has taken a stance against this crime of nature against book lovers.
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Earthquakes and books are rivals, but the latter always loses. So Shinsuke Fujii, a Japanese architect, came to the rescue
Shinsuke Fujii, a Japanese architect, is the mind behind this bookshelf. But it’s more than just a bookshelf that is not for those who are afraid of heights. It’s an integral part of the “House in Shinyoshida”, a contemporary house with a slanted wall which serves as the basis for the earthquake-proof bookshelf.
And so the earthquake-proof shelf was born. It’s a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf which was built on a slanted wall, which was purposely done this way
In an area where earthquakes are common, books are always the first casualties to fall down from their place. This bookshelf not only keeps the books intact, but it is, in itself, an essential part of house’s interior.
The form of the bookshelf restructures the living space, thus making it more ‘alive’ and less formal
It’s not only about the books, which in themselves are always a great add-on for every interior. The inclined bookshelf entirely transforms how the space looks.
The bookshelf is huge, therefore a ladder is included.
Yet a huge bookshelf requires readers to have a huge appetite for books
View from the other side of the room
The inclined wall from the outside
The entire “House in Shinyoshida”
People appreciated the looks of it, but were not entirely convinced
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What do you think ?
M O'Connell 5 years ago
Ummm, it seems like it would be more efficient to build slanted shelves rather than a slanted house.
Christophe Ferreira 5 years ago
I was going to say that. There is a famous book writer in Japan (forgot his name) who showed his house on TV and he had a room full of books and since that's where he spends most of his time working there, the TV crew asked him if he was not afraid of earthquakes and books falling on him. He showed that he had slanted shelves and that is enough for the strongest earthquakes that do not destroy the house. If you didn't know they were slanted, you would not notice. I guess a slanted wall has a better wow factor that ends you in blogs etc and give you free publicity as an architect. 😉
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Aunt Messy 5 years ago
Houses in Japan are required by law to be earthquake resistant. That said, there is no such thing as a earthquake PROOF house. It's not possible to build something like that. I like the design of the book case, though. The slanted wall is very interesting, and it actually adds the illusion of space to a relatively small house. ...///... That said, we don't have a ton of books in the house any more. Most fiction is not something you'd want to own forever and we have a very large electronic library.
Daria B 5 years ago (edited)
"(...)there is no such thing as a earthquake PROOF house. It's not possible to build something like that." → Unfortunately, yeah, that's true. The best you can do is make them flexible, so they lean back and forth like the Tower of Pisa, rather than crashing and falling down. Maybe in a distant future they could invent gravity defying hovering/flying houses, now THAT would be earthquake-proof.
Load More Replies... M O'Connell 5 years ago
Ummm, it seems like it would be more efficient to build slanted shelves rather than a slanted house.
Christophe Ferreira 5 years ago
I was going to say that. There is a famous book writer in Japan (forgot his name) who showed his house on TV and he had a room full of books and since that's where he spends most of his time working there, the TV crew asked him if he was not afraid of earthquakes and books falling on him. He showed that he had slanted shelves and that is enough for the strongest earthquakes that do not destroy the house. If you didn't know they were slanted, you would not notice. I guess a slanted wall has a better wow factor that ends you in blogs etc and give you free publicity as an architect. 😉
Load More Replies... Aunt Messy 5 years ago
Houses in Japan are required by law to be earthquake resistant. That said, there is no such thing as a earthquake PROOF house. It's not possible to build something like that. I like the design of the book case, though. The slanted wall is very interesting, and it actually adds the illusion of space to a relatively small house. ...///... That said, we don't have a ton of books in the house any more. Most fiction is not something you'd want to own forever and we have a very large electronic library.
Daria B 5 years ago (edited)
"(...)there is no such thing as a earthquake PROOF house. It's not possible to build something like that." → Unfortunately, yeah, that's true. The best you can do is make them flexible, so they lean back and forth like the Tower of Pisa, rather than crashing and falling down. Maybe in a distant future they could invent gravity defying hovering/flying houses, now THAT would be earthquake-proof.
Load More Replies...
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