$5,800 USD

Artwork Description

This bookshelf is inspired by the Celanese Mexicana building, designed by architect Ricardo Legorreta and engineer Leonardo Zeevaert in 1968, whose structure is organized around a central core and systems that make the relationship between tension and compression visible. In this object-scale reinterpretation, the structural logic is translated into wood and brass. The wooden elements are assembled without nails or adhesives, while brass appears only where the structure requires it: working in tension. A total of 10 shelves —8 small and 2 large— do not stack; they hang. They are held in place by 40 brass pins: 12 anchored to the upper main shelf, receiving the tension rods 28 securing the shelves from below From the main upper shelf descend 12 brass tension rods of varying lengths (0.98 m, 0.77 m, 0.67 m, and 0.56 m), responsible for tensioning, balancing, and stabilizing the system. The base supports a central wooden column, assembled from crossed elements joined solely through interlocking slots. A 20 × 20 cm safety plate rests on this column, allowing the upper main shelf to sit securely above. Wood works in compression. Brass works in tension. The shelves float. The structure reveals itself.