Flat.C

Books and TV set, two essential companions in our everyday life. Design has dedicated several projects to both, which have produced different solutions in the course of time, now privileging functionality, now aesthetic aspects. Books are nice to display, they are almost part of the furniture, when they decorate entire walls enlivening them with such an old material as paper, unaltered across time. Video appliances, on the contrary, have radically changed in their fifty-year-long history, and despite the attention devoted to their appearance, they don’t always fit harmoniously into the home setting, which is why people often prefer to conceal their presence.
With the Flat.C system designed by Antonio Citterio, the issue of the bookcase, equipped to hold the TV set and video/HI-FI accessories as well, finds a definitely interesting solution with a broad range of combination and colour options.
The first feature striking the observer is the discreet elegance of the system, thanks to which the books play the actual leading role. Extremely reduced thickness; horizontal and vertical patterns resulting from the matching of shelves and partitions; a single and quite small depth; the elimination of any exposed joints , bring about a furnishing project, which does not want to be the main focus of the room, serving the functions it was designed for with the utmost elegance, instead.
With Flat.C, the bookcase becomes once again not only an element meant for containing, but an ideal place in which “knowledge” is concentrated and displayed, a niche for consultation, relaxation and where to find an agreeable isolation. Not only books, but technology as well.
The issue of containing, or partially concealing, video appliances was tackled through a series of container modules, which are “laid out” harmonically together with the shelves.
Containers with sliding doors, vertically or horizontally opening doors, projecting open or closed containers, both hanging and resting on the floor, and end elements: together, they contribute to offering a series of solutions not only useful for technological appliances, but also suitable for the dining room and the study.
A system of back panels and cable ducts that can be opened for inspection masterly solves the problem of wiring, which often creates unpleasant tangles. A lighting element placed inside the duct serves both practical and setting purposes.
Flat.C, condensed in numbers, appears as follows: 6 heights for side and central panels, 13 lengths for horizontal tops and shelves, from cm. 50 up to a single 350-cm-long shelf, which can be positioned starting from a minimum distance of approx. 12 cm, a single depth of 25 cm, reduced to lighten the composition as much as possible, and yet sufficient to hold not only books, but also CDs and DVDs.
Finishes range from satin lacquered to the new steel-colour varnishing for structural elements (made of extruded aluminium profiles); shelves and partitions present a novel version in ecovud.