Coming Soon: A Bookcase Design Contest

Slide in a little closer to the monitor. You’re going to want to read this carefully.

Remember the Thorsen House Table and the Virtual Dining Table challenges? Once again Popular Woodworking magazine has joined with LumberJocks.com to organize a challenge. This year’s challenge captures the best from those two earlier challenges to arrive at a great competition.

I can’t give you all the details as of yet. I can tell you this much: The challenge deals with a piece of furniture that everyone uses and everyone needs. It’s a project that, more than likely, you’ve built sometime in your woodworking career. In fact, the first time I built this project was in college – I assembled and/or built it more than one way back then. Today I could dedicate a complete wall to this project. Have you guessed what I’m referring to yet? A bookcase.

The challenge is to design a bookcase in Google SketchUp or another CAD program. Not into computer-generated designing? Then sketch your “one-of-a-kind” design onto a piece of paper, back of a business card or a cocktail napkin (so long as we can make out your ideas) and send it in as your entry. Everyone gets his or her shot at this challenge. The only caveat is this bookcase has to be able to be built in a working woodshop. Look for a full-blown announcement next week.

To get started with this challenge, the first step is to take a look at existing bookcases for inspiration and ideas. Check out any books you have, photos you’ve collected over the past few years or look to the Internet. Below are a number of links to web sites that showcase furniture, help with design or are focused primarily on bookcases. You certainly should find a “jump-off” point to begin your design. I came away stoked to design a bookcase and I’m not allowed to enter the contest – legally that is.

Furniture Index
http://kunstindustrimuseet.dk/furnitureindex/ 
A searchable collection of more than 10,000 pieces of Danish furniture.

Design Addict
http://www.designaddict.com/index.cfm 
A resource for modern, post-modern and contemporary design of the 20th-21st centuries.

Digital Library of the Decorative Arts
http://decorativearts.library.wisc.edu/
Electronic resources for study and research of the decorative arts, with a particular focus on Early America.

Covers
http://covers.fwis.com/bookshelves_2007
A collection of ways to exhibit book covers. Don’t miss the previous year’s photos as well.

Another important aspect of bookcase design is to know working specifics about building bookcases. Did you know that most shelves vary between 8” and 12” in width? Or the maximum span for 3/4”-thick shelves is 36” in length? To add you your knowledge and complement your creativity, we’ve included Troy Sexton’s article, “Everything You Must Know About Shelving” from Popular Woodworking magazine, August 2000  (issue #116). It’s loaded with pertinent bookcase facts and information. Click here to download a pdf of the story.

So sharpen your pencils, tune-up your abilities in Google SketchUp or exercise your CAD aptitude because you’ll want to get a jump on this challenge.

I almost forgot, you must be a LumberJock to enter the challenge (click here for LumberJock membership information).

What does the winning design get? That’s something you’ll have to find out next week.. But, I can tell you it’s not something Popular Woodworking, nor any other woodworking magazine, has ever offered before. Stay tuned!

— Glen Huey