Focal Bookcase by Yilmaz Dogan is a highly esteemed winner of the very prestigious 2025 A' Design Award in Furniture Design Competition Category.
IronFurniture· 2025
Focal Bookcase
by Yilmaz Dogan
Client: QZENS Furniture
A' Design Award Winner in Furniture Category
Verified Award Winner
Verify Award Status for #168209The Design
About Focal Bookcase
The Focal bookcase combines neoclassical symmetry with Art Deco elegance, featuring metal columns and asymmetrical chamfered shelf edges for a dynamic yet balanced look. Drawing inspiration from architectural rhythm, it merges classic refinement with modern craftsmanship. Precision-cut and hand-finished surfaces ensure a smooth texture, while hidden connection points provide structural integrity, creating the illusion of floating shelves and enhancing the design’s refined aesthetic.
The Recognition
About the A' Design Award
Focal Bookcase is an Iron A' Design Award winner, a prestigious recognition granted to good designs that meet the professional and industrial requirements expected from well-designed creations. Iron winners demonstrate great skill, high specialization, expert understanding, and creative capacity of their creators. Focal Bookcase is expected to be a highly regarded, admired, and cherished creation that is practical and innovative. This Iron A' Design Award-winning design integrates industry best practices and has competent technical characteristics linked with know-how and talent. Focal Bookcase is respected for its thoroughness and is designed to provide quality of life improvements that help make the world a better place.
Where to Get It
Bespoke Furniture Design Services
We transform spaces through custom furniture that merges engineering precision with artistic vision. Our award-winning approach combines neoclassical elegance with modern craftsmanship, creating pieces that balance structural innovation with refined aesthetics. Every design begins with understanding your unique needs and space.
Discuss Your ProjectInterviews
Grand Interview
Your innovative fusion of neoclassical symmetry and Art Deco elegance in the Focal Bookcase is striking - could you elaborate on how your trip to Paris in 2023 influenced these architectural elements in your design?
My visit to Paris in 2023 gave me the chance to explore the subtle elegance of neoclassical buildings and the decorative richness of Art Deco interiors. What fascinated me most was how symmetry and ornamentation could feel both grand and restrained. These influences naturally found their way into the design of the Focal Bookcase. The vertical brass columns and balanced shelf arrangement reflect this harmony. Rather than directly replicating historical details, I aimed to reinterpret their essence in a clean, modern language that still carries a sense of timeless beauty.
The brass columns in the Focal Bookcase create an illusion of floating shelves - what engineering challenges did you encounter when developing the hidden connection points to maintain both structural integrity and visual lightness?
Creating the illusion of floating shelves was both a design goal and a technical challenge. We wanted the shelves to feel weightless, yet they still had to support books and objects securely. To make that happen, we developed a hidden steel support system inside the brass columns and the shelf edges. Ensuring precision during production was key so that everything aligned perfectly without visible hardware. It took some trial and error, but in the end, we were able to achieve a balance between visual lightness and reliable structure.
How does the asymmetrical chamfering of shelf edges in the Focal Bookcase contribute to creating different visual perspectives, and what inspired this dynamic approach to traditional bookcase design?
The asymmetrical chamfering on the shelves adds a layer of movement to the piece. It’s subtle, but it changes the way light plays across the surface and gives the bookcase a dynamic quality from different angles. The idea came from architectural details I observed in Paris, especially how angled lines can soften rigid forms and create interesting shadows. This approach helped us give the bookcase a more sculptural feel, while still keeping it functional and elegant.
Behind the Design
Press Kit
Credits, team members and technical details provided by the designer.
- Unique Properties
- Focal Bookcase is a meticulously designed bookcase that seamlessly blends intricate surface details with impeccable craftsmanship. Its leg structure, reminiscent of vertical columns, creates a dynamic appearance with asymmetrical grooves along the shelf edges. Brass details emphasize luxury and elegance, while the flawless surface symmetry ensures aesthetic balance. It reinterprets the timeless lines of neoclassical architecture through a modern design language.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Height: 208 cm, Width: 120 cm, Depth: 40 cm. Its balanced form and open-shelf structure create a transparent composition within spaces. The lightweight and elegant design, combined with a closed lower compartment, makes it ideal for both storage and display.
- Tags
- Focal, Bookcase, Neoclassic, Art Deco, Asymmetry, Wood, Brass, Modern, Elegant, Architecture
- Production Technology
- Focal Bookcase is crafted from a perfect fusion of high-quality wood and brass materials. The surfaces are shaped using Cnc cutting and finished by hand to achieve an exceptional smoothness. The brass columns serve as structural supports, while the asymmetrical chamfered edges of the shelves add dynamism to the design. The enhanced material structure ensures durability and long-lasting use.
- Design Challenge
- The main design challenge of the Focal Bookcase was adapting architectural elements to a furniture scale while maintaining a balanced structure. Specially developed hidden connection points were implemented to allow the brass columns to function as structural supports without losing their delicate form, ensuring that the shelves remain suspended in the air.
- Research
- Research on Neoclassical architecture and Art Deco design principles formed the foundation of Focal Bookcase’s inspiration. The architectural column form was combined with refined brass details to achieve a balance between aesthetics and functionality in furniture. Material, proportion, and symmetry analyses supported the integrity of the design.
- Inspiration
- Focal Bookcase draws inspiration from the balanced symmetry of Neoclassical architecture and the refined details of Art Deco. The brass supports, resembling vertical columns, reflect the rhythmic form of architectural structures. By combining the modernism of the 1920s with fine craftsmanship and luxurious materials, it offers a timeless design. With its flawless craftsmanship and surface details, it embodies the harmony of classical and contemporary aesthetics.
- Project Duration
- The project began with the initial sketches during a trip to Paris in 2023. The production was completed in 2024, in Ankara.
- Operation Flow
- Focal Bookcase is designed to be both decorative and functional. It offers an ideal shelf arrangement for books, objects, and artworks, while the vertical brass columns enhance stability. The asymmetrical edge details create a different perspective from every angle, adding aesthetic dynamism to the space.
- Image Credits
- A. Murat ARIK
Erinç ULUSOY
Giray AYDOS
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