The Verso story

I had two starting points for this project: I wanted to design a bookshelf which can be manufactured using as little material as possible. Secondly, I wanted the form of the bookshelf to represent a new, fresh way of thinking about furniture. I was consciously trying to avoid traditional solutions and to study what a bookshelf is at its simplest. The outcome was Verso – the functional bookshelf without actual shelves.

Verso suits many kinds of interiors from modern to more down-to-earth environments. Thanks to its unique, lightweight design, Verso does not look empty even if there are only a few books or magazines in the shelf. The absence of actual shelves also has the added bonus of keeping the Verso shelf free from the usual rubbish people often have taking up space intended for books. Instead of adopting a purely minimalist form, I gave the side beams an organic, tree-like form as a departure from the overly simple style of recent years.

The main material is wood. I chose wood because it is a naturally beautiful and warm material. Wood is also very versatile: it is easy to make several variations of Verso using different surface treatments.

Ecological factors and the ease of manufacturing were also taken into account. Making a Verso shelf requires significantly less wood than producing a traditional bookshelf. Small changes have been made together with the ONFC team in order to fit Verso in a relatively small package for easy, economical and – most importantly – ecological transportation.

Mikko Halonen

Find out more about the Verso here