brushstroke-wall-of-books

Recently we celebrated a friend’s birthday at the rarified 12-seat sushi bar at Brushstroke, chef David Bouley’s collaborative Japanese restaurant in Tribeca, NYC. Designed by the Japanese firm Super Potato, the interiors are serene and graceful, evocative of a Japanese temple melded with modernist architectural elements: stone, reclaimed timber, salvaged, weathered steel. The most stunning detail were walls clad with 25,000 books, their covers removed, edges facing out, stacked floor-to-ceiling to create a neutral-colored, woven pattern. They resemble wooden blocks, though knowing that they’re books gives them a much bigger effect and mystery.

Brushstroke wall of books 2

brushstroke book wall 3

Although a huge project, it does seem do-able. It looks like they anchored the book/bricks with duct tape…

brushstroke book wall process

…ripping the covers off unwanted books gives them a neutral look that turns them into ‘bricks’

brushstroke book wall in process 2

Think of all the scrap books that could find new life as a beautiful interior….

All photos via Brushstroke.

Related posts: magazine or book page wallpaper???!!!!
naked and defiled: book bricks as decorating element?
unusual guest ‘books’ on walls and furniture (and books)
evocative ideas from “the best of the selby 2010″

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5 replies on “books as stunning reclaimed building material

  1. Me thinks there is something much more secure than duct tape attaching all that vertical weight. A collapse would certainly injure anyone sitting near.

    I love the look and just think how quiet it would be inside all that paper.

    Fill us in when you find out more details – books are still a deal compared to other materials priced by the square foot.

  2. The sushi bar is in that room. It IS very quiet and tranquil. Come to think of it, a sort of padded cell. (:

  3. Wonderful. But I cannot but feel nostalgic for the words that are lost.

  4. If the “walls” were made of old textbooks or even trashy self-help or bad bestsellers, this wouldn’t bother me, but I always have a hard time with books used decoratively —

  5. My first thought was “cool”. My next thought was “how do they clean them?”

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