Solea is a modular magazine rack that takes inspiration from the act of weaving and the way forms can unfold and shift from a single point. With soft, flowing curves and a dynamic structure, it’s designed to sit naturally beside a couch or bed, holding the books and magazines that are part of everyday life. What makes Solea truly unique is its flexibility: the rack responds to the weight and shape of the magazines placed on it, subtly adapting its form over time. In this way, Solea is a living object — quietly shaped by the user’s habits and rhythms.

Designing with Constraints

Developed as part of the Introduction to Structural Design module led by Dr. Christian Boucharenc and Sixiu Tan, this project explored how structural integrity, modularity, and aesthetics can emerge from minimal means. The brief challenged students to design a magazine rack using only a single sheet of cardboard, without glue, fasteners, or additional materials. The outcome needed to reflect principles of eco-design and sustainability, emphasizing material efficiency, flat-pack compactness, user-friendly assembly, and configurable modularity.

Material-Driven Exploration

We started small, using whatever cardboard we could find, like single and double-walled sheets, and played around with scoring, slitting, slotting, even peeling apart layers. Early prototypes explored how planes could unfold from one point, and that idea stuck with us. It was playful, a bit unexpected, but opened up a lot of possibilities.

Structure in Motion

After extensive prototyping, we found that combining flattened single-walled corrugated board with mounting board provided the ideal balance between strength and flexibility. This pairing allowed the structure to remain sturdy while accommodating gentle curves. Rather than being pre-formed, the curves emerge from the tension created by interwoven components, giving Solea its distinctive sense of movement and quiet personality.

A Living Rhythm

Solea is flexible in both form and function. Its soft curves rise and fall like a quiet rhythm, bringing a gentle sense of motion to the space. These curves aren’t fixed, bur rather, they respond to the weight and placement of each magazine, subtly shifting over time. It is this quiet adaptability that gives Solea its character: a piece that doesn’t just hold your belongings, but evolves with your everyday rhythms.