The contemporaneity of a classic: Load-it bookshelving system, designed by Wofgang Tolk

26.07.22

Designed by Wolfgang Tolk in 1995 and featuring protruding shelves that cut through the space, the Load-it bookshelving system is a Porro classic that has maintained its strong iconic value over the years, progressively acquiring new functions and design options.

Originally developed as an all-white bookcase that disappears into the wall, creating the effect of a succession of books suspended in the air, it has changed its look over the years, adding new materials and finishes without losing the recognisability and expressive power of a design that is at the same time simple and disruptive.

Its basic idea, which makes load-bearing thin L-shaped shelves made of cold-bent steel, combined with wall panels also made of steel or wood, has evolved over time, experimenting with new materials and finishes, going along with new trends and lifestyles that make it always appear modern and contemporary. The simplicity of white, blac and steel, the sophistication of metallic finishes such as burnished brass, grigio porfido or rosso antico, or the retro feel of fabrics and textures such as natural and black-stained canneté: a palette of expressive possibilities to give interiors the desired look.

Ideal for creating equipped walls and boiserie systems, it has acquired new functions over time thanks to the combination with Modern cabinets: home-working solutions and TV compositions, which further expand the range of possible compositions and uses of this sleek bookshelving system, enhancing creativity and meeting the functional needs of the living area.

The ingenious design of Load-it is enhanced by lighting: the bookshelves feature a dedicated spotlight, that can be placed anywhere along the electrified profile under the shelf thanks to its magnetic connection, allowing the objects displayed on the shelves to be illuminated in a technical and museum-like way by directing the light beam. An idea of light in which the source is designed to be almost invisible.

Load-it bookcase with natural canneté wall panels and steel shelves.
Designing spaces through clear and elegant signs, that are defined by the rigour of the lines, the value of the finishes and the quality of design: the Load-it bookcase with steel shelves and wall panels in natural or black-stained canneté, featuring horizontal stripes alongside vertical ones, creates a fully-fledged boiserie system on the wall, a textured picture that can reach down to the floor, covering the space with a second functional skin.

Modern+Load-it composition with black-stained ash writing desk and steel wall panels and shelves.
Combined with the Modern writing top in black-stained ash, the Load-it single-material bookcase with steel shelves and wall panels dresses the surface giving character to the room. To enhance a transition space by creating a bookcase with a home-working station and integrated lighting, thanks to spotlights with magnetic connection that can be placed anywhere along the electrified profile under the shelf.

Modern+Load-it composition with domestic walnut hanging elements, travertine board, avorio lacquered wall panels and steel shelves.
Visual delicacy and light and bright tones distinguish the Modern+Load-it composition for the living area, which combines the steel shelves and avorio glossy lacquered wall panels of Load-it with the national walnut hanging elements, open or with hinged doors, in dialogue with the Modern travertine board. A project that shows Porro's ability to balance textures, materials, and shapes blending elements into a visual unicum, in which simplicity and naturalness are never the starting point, but rather the point of arrival.

Modern+Load-it composition with sabbia matt lacquered hanging element, black-stained hemlock hanging modules with sabia matt lacquered interiors, valentine grey marble board, black-stained canneté wall panels and steel shelves.
The Load-it bookcase with steel shelves and black-stained canneté wall panels frames the central window and creates a graphic backdrop in which the square module of Modern stands out and moves, developing objects that differ in materials, colors, and functional uses. A hanging element with sabbia matt lacquered drop-leaf door on the left and 4 hanging modules in black-stained hemlock with hinged doors in essence or crystal with metal profile, which allow glimpses of the colored interiors. Finally, functional for home video equipment is the Grey Valentine marble board, which alternates open modules with functional drawers with sabbia lacquered doors.
Load-it’s spotlights allow the objects displayed on the shelves to be illuminated in a technical and museum-like way by directing the light beam.
Simple, bold lines, measure and sophistication: Modern goes even more beyond the traditional boundaries of the industrial piece to show the multiple degrees of freedom and endless variations of this multifaceted storage system for the living room.