Peter Marigold: Make/Shift

Make/Shift, by Peter Marigold, is a modular shelving system designed to be wedged into whatever awkward nook or cranny your abode might hold. From his very read-worthy interview on London's Design Museum website:

The world that I live in is chaotic and densely populated by junk, both collected things and simple rubbish. It’s not a perfect place but it is consistent. Like wise, English homes are usually consistent in their shared irregularities – pokey architectural spaces, weird under-hangs, and unusable corners. I was interested in how a piece of furniture might adapt to and therefore reflect our acceptance of living with these innate problems.

One version of Make/Shift was built in the manner of packing crates; these could be used as boxes when moving house, then put in place as shelving units once there.


Units available soon from movisi are manufactured from expanded polypropylene with corrugated edges. This material is well-suited to the task as it makes the units sturdy, yet lightweight and easily wedged into gaps.




So. Cool, yes? And we all know that, just as my favorite category is "miscellaneous," my favorite item of furniture is the shelf unit. I'm crazy about Make/Shift as shelving, but I've also got to rave about the mind of the designer. Again, from his Design Museum interview:

I am interested in objects, and the vast bulk of objects that we experience have been, at least in part, mass-produced. In this respect, as with my impulse to become a ‘proper designer’, I feel a real impulse to ‘fit’ with the aesthetics surrounding me. However I am also conscious that most of the products that I see today, idealise a world that I doubt I will ever experience, unless through the media. I’m probably doing something wrong, but my house never looks like that, and I think there are probably parallels here with how the fashion industry actively encourages anorexia in women. It might look innocent, but, intentionally or not, a beautiful surface with perfectly rounded corners is a good way to convince a human that he is little more than a contaminant in the product process.

I just identify so much with this! I love looking at the magazines, but my life nor my home will ever be showroom pieces. At best, I'm shooting for functional. At least, at this stage of the game. Perhaps things will be different when I'm an adult, working at a real job and living in a real house.

After all, at forty-five there's plenty of time, right?

tags:
Make/Shift
Peter Marigold
movisi
shelf units
Design Museum