This simple sculptural shelf is made from a sheet of folded steel
Industrial designer Manu Bañó applies simple gestures to raw materials in his OBJ collection.
Kieron is a freelance writer and Digital Consultant who doesn't consider himself a design lover but a user of design - which to him is more than enough.
LinkedinBañó adds to his collection a modular system that transforms a simple sheet of hot rolled steel obtained in commercial format into a striking shelving design.
The process is similarly uncomplicated, requiring only several laser cuts to achieve its form and function.
The final object stays true to its origins, left raw without removal of scratches or defects from its manufacture.
The shelves can be extended vertically or horizontally, allowing for flexible dimensions within a space.
“You can display objects or leave the shelf empty as a sculptural piece, eliminating its practical function and increasing its aesthetic ambition,” says the designer.
The shelving system adds to a larger collection in which Bañó employs simple manufacturing techniques such as cutting and folding, transforming sheets of metal and brass tubes into utilitarian objects.
Called OBJ, it includes a set of lamps and a lounge chair.
Beauty over function but functional nevertheless
The OBJ collection is based on simple gestures applied to materials in their commercial format.
With simple manipulations such as cutting and folding, the raw material is transformed into a utilitarian object.
“My creative process is not based on references nor does it have a previous research stage, my way of approaching design is through intuition,” explains the designer.
“I enjoy drawing simple lines and ideas in my many notebooks, and over time some of these strokes become physical objects.”
“The OBJ series has an aesthetic ambition and puts beauty over function, even though as a designer I feel comfortable placing these objects somewhere in the house and always end up feeling the need for them to serve a function.”
