Simple twists subvert classic bookcase

Well, they may not break your heart (much like the book A Heartwarming Work of Staggering Genius, from which this title was adapted) – but at least one of them looks like it could shoot a wine bottle right through that most precious of organs. These designs by HeartBreakers Design Studio offer simple twists on three conventional furniture objects: bookcase, stool and wine rack. Who needs boring old conventional design when you could have something so much cooler?

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Simple twists subvert classic detail

Out of the three unusual objects, the bookcase is perhaps the simplest, but in some ways it’s the sleekest too. It’s hard to tell if it is meant to be functional or simply a work of abstract modern wall art. In fact, it would be interesting to put it up just like this without books and see what people say about it. (If you really want to confuse them, put a little square of paper printed with a paragraph of pretentious gibberish next to it).

Simple twists subvert classic wine rack

The wine rack is fairly self-explanatory – the wine bottles are the ‘bullets’ that go into the ‘barrel’ of the shelf; the design is simple, elegant, but suggestive … in wine there is truth, as they say, and perhaps in death and deadly weaponry as well. One has to wonder whether a parallel is being drawn here about alcoholism, but maybe it’s actually not that deep.

Simple twists subvert classic stool

Finally, there’s the stool, which is the most interactive of these three ideas. A bright white light comes on when you sit down upon it, and slowly fades when you get up to walk away. It is intended to be a statement of sorts about conversation, community and communication, but is a neat trick whether or not you buy into its artistic back-story. Would you put any of these unusual objects in your own home?