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Raw Edges' offering for the upcoming Salone del Mobile puts a functional spin on the bookshelf. Booken switches the posture of book storage to expose spines horizontally, which creates an additional useable surface. Bibliophiles might worry about potential damage to the books, but small apartment dwellers will appreciate the the slim profile and extra storage in a smaller room or wide hallway. [via designboom]

Last month the IMM held its annual furniture trade show in Cologne, and showcased over 1,250 designers to over 142,000 visitors. 

The new Slagbaenk from BFex might be our favorite find of IMM. It's a modular take on the typical kitchen bench essential to every Scandinavian home. There are three essential functions to the slagbaenk: it has to provide proper seating for a meal at the kitchen table, have a storage compartment, and provide more relaxed, daybed-style seating. Bfex used five planks of wood and two chairs to create a new minimal take on the bench that definitely fits within their mantra: "Art with function – Design without."

The Daniel Becker Design Studio caught our eye with its more functional take on the fireplace tile. It named the line after the chilly German capital, Berlin. The tiles were designed to have a three-dimensional form, which increases the surface area of each piece and, therefore, how much heat the tiles can release. No design integrity was sacrificed for the energy efficiency of the series either. The tiles come in four sizes and have a simple concentric pattern that allows interior designers to configure them as they wish.

It's hard to improve upon the simplicity of a wood bookshelf, but industrial design student Lucien Gumy managed to refine the shelf in a subtle way. He designed a new shelving system, titled simply, "l'étagère en bois" or "wooden shelf," that uses special joints instead of screws or nails to make the shelf customizable and easy to assemble. The system won him the D3 Student award, a well-deserved honor at IMM.