Story at a glance:
- The Danish-designed FK63 Bookcase System celebrates a 1963 sustainable furniture design.
- The bookcase system is made entirely of responsibly sourced oak.
- The piece can attach to the wall, stand alone on the floor, and have as many cabinets, drawers, and doors as you like.
Available beginning February 2021, Danish furniture company Carl Hansen & Søn is drawing attention back to the FK63 Bookcase System first designed in 1963 by Preben Fabricius and Jørgen Kastholm.
Preben Fabricius trained as a cabinetmaker, while Jørgen Kastholm trained as a smith, and the FK Bookcase System was one of their first designs to be honored with an award when it was presented at the Copenhagen Cabinetmakers’ Guild Furniture Exhibition in 1963.
The versatile bookcase design—made entirely from responsibly sourced wood—joins Carl Hansen & Søn’s collection of classic designer furniture. The multi-faceted piece is the result of a shared interest in functionally minimalist designs that focus on proportion, handcrafted details, and natural materials.
These are a few of the design details that make this piece stand out.
Joinery
Photo courtesy of Carl Hansen & Son
The FK63 Bookcase System features thoughtful joinery details like full-width cabinets fitted with brass handles and open shelves with optional sliding trays. Both details are customizable to accommodate growing collections—whether it’s books or other precious mementos.
Sanding the beautiful mortise joints to produce a smooth and silky-soft surface is a particularly time-consuming process. The installation of the doors also requires extreme precision, and they are adjusted by hand to ensure perfect symmetry. The drawers are always made of ash, which contrasts elegantly with the oak. A spring ball catch is fitted at the bottom of each door, producing a discreet click when the door is closed.
Flexibility
The FK63 Bookcase System, designed by Preben Fabricius and Jørgen Kastholm. Photo courtesy of Carl Hansen & Søn
Functionality and flexibility meets materiality and sustainability in this elegant storage system, offering up endless arrangements in homes, offices, hotels, or just about anywhere.
The FK63 Bookcase System consists of square modules in two depths. You can hang it on the wall or sit it on the floor (the standalone system rests on a slender powder-coated metal frame), and rotate it as you see fit so the shelves are tall or wide. Customize the bookcase with shelves, drawers, or doors, depending on your needs.
In short, you can build your dream bookcase to your exact specifications.
Design your own here. Start from scratch or open an existing design and customize it to meet your needs in the home or office.
FSC-Certified Wood
Photo courtesy of Carl Hansen & Søn
The FK63 Bookcase System bookcase system is made using solid FSC-certified solid oak, oiled to accentuate the texture and grain of the wood. The furniture piece is made at Carl Hansen & Son’s factory in Gelsted on Funen in Denmark.
In general Carl Hansen & Søn uses nearly every bit of wood they source, repurposing any little scrap that remains as fuel in a district heating plant that provides warmth to more than 400 local homes in Gelsted.
