B17 Bookshelf

In 1967, Pierre Chapo presented new creations at the Salon des Arts Ménagers, exhibiting the B17 bookshelf for the first time. The B 17 is fixed to the wall, freeing up considerable floor space. The bookshelf, whose presence surprises by its discretion and elegance, comes in several versions of differing lengths and heights. The harmony of the lines between the uprights and the shelves (in 50 mm sections) is accentuated by the originality of the support system.

Supports, as their name implies, normally prop up the shelves of a piece of furniture or else the jutting parts of buildings. Pierre Chapo decided not to take this universal law into account and modeled a support that fits into the upright, which means the shelf can be solidly fixed under its support. In a balance between gravity and the forces at play, the more weight goes on the shelf, the better its components slot into the upright.