The most recent edition of Aedas’ ‘Think Tank’, an annual design boot camp that gathers selected architects from around the globe for creative exchange, saw the Hong Kong-based architecture firm team up with London-based furniture company Channels to produce five bookshelf prototypes.

Split into 5 teams, 20 designers were given 36 hours to come up with the prototype. Their raw materials? An assortment of medium density fibreboards and accessories.
These prototypes were exhibited as part of Aedas’s “Zero to One” exhibition at The Rotunda in Exchange Square from 11 to 14 February, alongside a series of illustrations covering the design process behind some of the firm’s most notable projects.

Appearing to stay afloat in mid-air, The Globe pays tribute to Aedas’ global reach. The stand, which splits the shelf at its axis, is actually a mirror, which is reflective of the intricate connection between Mother Earth, its people and the designers.

(Left) The Globe; (right) The Surfer

Watersports brings to mind freedom and The Surfer is precisely that. Mimicking the movement of waves, the flowing and interconnecting lines are a reminder that an architect must work in tandem with nature.

Magic Box

Taking inspiration from minimalist architectural geometry, the Magic Box looks like nothing more than a sturdy bookshelf at first glance, but when placed horizontally, transforms into a table case, thus speaking to the flexibility required in contemporary furniture design.

Infinity

Doubling up as a shelf and screen, Infinity is made up of three modules, which can be arranged in a myriad ways. Aside from a nod to the boundless imagination of an architect, Infinity is also a reminder of an architect’s responsibility to adapt to the times.

Sollevamento da Vinci

Behind the extravagant title of Sollevamento da Vinci lies an equally elaborate pulley mechanism. Designed to lift individual volumes, Sollevamento makes the process of scouring the shelf at once whimsical and dramatic. It’s a reminder that sometimes, a bit of fun goes a long way, even in a serious discipline like architecture.

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