Echelle, Paris, 2012

Designed for a tableware shop, this project began with a request for a display system that could function both as shop furniture and as a mobile exhibition fixture. The brief suggested something between furniture and joinery. Furniture is typically conceived as an autonomous object placed within a space. Joinery, by contrast, is designed in direct relation to architecture, adapting to the dimensions of a specific interior. Échelle explores the territory between these two scales. The system is composed of only two elements: ladder-like frames and wooden planks. By configuring the frames into an A-shape, the structure becomes self-supporting. More importantly, adjusting the angle of the frames changes the overall height without altering any components. This simple mechanism allows the system to adapt to different spaces while maintaining the same kit of parts. The current system adapts vertically but not horizontally, as the width remains determined by the length of the planks. Future developments may address this limitation. The project was named Échelle, a French word meaning both ladder and scale. The system operates somewhere between furniture and joinery, adapting itself to a space without ever becoming part of it.

Photo : Ikuo Yamashita