String System: the Swedish shelf and its distant cousins
Nisse Strinning's steel-wire uprights, 1949, against the generic ladder shelf. Two logics, two budgets, one wall.
1 MIN · 5 OBJECTS IDENTIFIEDIn 1949, Nisse and Kajsa Strinning won a bookcase competition with a lucid idea: uprights of bent steel wire, shelves that simply rest on top. The String System, still made in Sweden, now faces a generation of generic wall shelving that borrows its look.
The String logic
A system, not a piece of furniture: wall-mounted or floor-standing uprights, shelves, cabinets, suspended desks — everything recomposes, extends, comes apart and moves house. The lacquered wire uprights, 2 cm deep, give a graphic lightness nothing else can match flush against the wall.
The cousins and the copies
Ladder shelves and track-and-bracket systems do another job, often an honest one, at €50-150. Direct copies of the String — imitation steel wire, thin shelves — give themselves away through thicker wire, visible welds, and shelves that sag under the books.
The prices
A complete String wall runs to €400-800 new. Vintage teck from the 1950s-60s, much sought after, often trades higher than the new pieces. The good news: the current system is compatible with the older uprights.
Spotted a wire shelf? Scan it on Beyit to find out which one it is.
One photo, every piece identified.
Your room, a shop window, an inspiration screenshot: send the photo, we find the pieces and their alternatives at every price.
On iPhone, the app does the same from your camera.
The pieces, at your budget.
Every piece mentioned, with its alternatives — from vintage to dupe.
Where to find String System
At the house itself, or at the retailer that stocks it.
Gallery
5 images
