Sapien Bookcase

For more than two decades, Bruno Rainaldi has been influencing the design scene in Milan. Whether designing furniture, bringing iconic works back into production or teaching students at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts, where he is a professor. When he designed his Sapien Bookcase (2003), he created a unique solution for those with a lot of books and little space to store them. By holding texts horizontally in a vertical stack, the tall Sapien can accommodate up to 70 small and large books in a very compact footprint. (The shorter bookcase will hold up to 50 books.) The removable shelves are a mere 2mm thick but each one can hold approximately five books, or an impressive 5.5 lbs. The tall Sapien has 14 shelves, the short has 10. When fully loaded, the bookcase virtually disappears behind the books. All-metal construction and a heavy, weighted base ensure the design’s strength and stability. Simple assembly required. Made in Italy. Bruno Rainaldi was formed on the field, starting at a young age to work with interior design comunication. With irony he described himself as a “street designer” and his style as “chaotically rigorous”. In Milan he directs the first High-tech at Corso di Porta Ticinese. He supports Maddalena De Padova in the storic showroom of corso Venezia, later Enrico Baleri as partner of Baleri & Associati, with communication strategies for companies and designstores. Founds Studio Rari - in which he is the soul and the creative director - and beguins his first collaborations as creative director/designer with several italian design companies as Alivar, MDF, Mussi Italy, Sintesi. Then Terzani, Slamp, Casprini, Annibale Colombo, Bilumen, Davide Medri e Dilmos. Until the recent project Opinion Ciatti, born from the important artistic- and business-partnership with Lapo Ciatti. In the mid-eighties, Bruno Rainaldi meets Flavia Ciatti. From their friendship/comparison the idea of a new company comes to life - CCR - aimed at developing furniture and accessories for the home, not only for the kitchen. The brand CCR gives birth to important pieces of industrial design. In 2006, Lapo Ciatti, who represents the third generation, enters in the company with the family’s entrepreneurial instinct and with training in industrial design. New comparisons and new opinions. Opinion Ciatti is born of which Bruno Rainaldi is president, partner and artistic director. With a deep market knowledge, a great passion for arts and a precios talent for transverse associations matured over the years, Bruno Rainaldi alloy definitly his professionality in the design world. In 2002, together with Marta Giardini, he opens Entratalibera, a very special space in Milan where he exposes his own works and a selection of objects. A “laboratory of shapes”, open towards research and experimentation. Bruno Rainaldi designed bookshelves, tables, chairs, sofas, armchairs, beds, accessories and lighning. A universe of intense and iconic objects without consistency in style, rather the real sense of industrial design: to produce the right object for the right use. What holdes them together it is the essentiality of the design, the freedom of use, the compositional versatility. http://www.opinionciatti.com/en/designers/1-bruno-rainaldi