The aesthetic that I am interested in emulating for my upcycle project can be described as Upcycled Bibliophilia. Bibloiophilia being the love of books. I have been making an effort to read much more recently and I have a small bookshelf in my room, that I also thrifted. It is not particularly nice or pleasing to the eye so I would like to make a sort of upcycled combination of the two.

My initial idea is to mold a bunch of thrifted books into the shape of a bookcase using epoxy or something clear so that the covers of the books are visible. I think this would be an interesting use of books, sort of solidifying them in time, on the other hand it could be nice to be able to interchange the books. Another idea I had for the bookshelf is to have ‘permanent’ books on each shelf level in different positions. This could be designed in a way that it is pleasing to the eye yet functional as well, being a book stop.

I have some concerns with the costs associated with epoxy as well as the logistics of pouring as much epoxy at one time as I think it will require. I may have to pivot directions due to this, only in terms of fastening methods. It would be nice to have the bookshelf be made solely out of books as I think it would complete the design better.

I am also still playing with the design of the bookshelf, with the likelihood being that it will not made in the conventional shape. Two reasons for doing this would be the ease of actually fabricating the bookshelf, the less books I have to use and the smaller the book planks are, the more likely I can get it to work. I also think that it creates a better opportunity for personal design, through changing the form of the bookshelf.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibliophilia

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