British designer based in Copenhagen Zak Stratfold created the Noma Shelf, floating shelf / drawer with a flexible lycra bottom that expands to take the form of its contents, creating a sculptural, yet super functional, silhouette below the shelf top.
Based on the traditional Japanese Tokonoma – a near sacred alcove within the reception room, devoted to the display of a highly edited selection of artistic objects – the surface of this shelf/drawer slides away from the wall to reveal a flexible area within which cherished items that may otherwise be lost and forgotten can be placed. The word ‘Noma’ roughly translates from Japanese to mean ‘of space’.
Noma Shelf acknowledges our habitual consumption, both reminding us of and celebrating the things we already own, whilst accommodating the new.
Its form is completely dictated by its contents, quietly reminding us of our accumulation as it swells. The sculptural form created on the underside gives the contained objects a almost ghostly yet celebratory presence.
The shelf top encourages frequent curation of the objects displayed upon it, tackling cluttered surfaces, jammed cupboards and poor memories, whilst bringing focus to the things we treasure.
