Read-Unread shelf08. Aug2011
'Read-Unread' is a concept piece that goes beyond the notion of a bookshelf. It's not a simple place for drop or store your books but a meter that shows how much you read/unread at one moment, it records how much knowledge you have acquired.
And it is a matter of selection too: Read/Unread is an object that helps you to select by different criteria, a limited number of books you want/need to read in some periods of your life.
Somehow, 'Read/Unread' can affect you from a psychical point of view. It shows your reading progress right in your face, provoking you each day you look at it. And your friends who visit you can clearly observe and discuss your reading progress. If you take it seriously, Read/Unread can really show how well balanced you are on the reading activity. It is a similar mechanism with ToDo lists.
Ultimately, 'Read/Unread' is a dynamic object, changing it with every book you read, moved from left to right from unread to read (depending on the culture, the right side may be the unread books, similar with the reading from right to left), changing its shape according to the weight of the hanging books.
Photo by Niko Economidis
The shelf is constructed with leather straps hanging from three chrome steel brackets mounted on a wall, on which books are placed on either end, securely fastened with metal buckles. 
"Constructed of leather straps hung across supports, Read-Unread [shelf] physically weighs the balance of books that have been read, against those yet to be read." - Niko Economidis 
Niko Economids is a product designer based out of New York. His past works include product, furniture, and lighting design. He currently works from his studio in Greenpoint Brooklyn.
