Keen Shelving System: How GUBI Makes Modular Storage Feel Architectural

The GUBI Keen Shelving System is a modular storage system designed in 2025 by Linda Korndal of Toko Among Friends. Rather than beginning with a cabinet and dividing it into compartments, Keen begins with a line: slender rods, shelves, feet and arched top elements that can continue across a wall, rise to full height or stop low enough to divide a room without closing it.

A shelf that reads like architecture

Keen’s character comes from repetition. The vertical rods establish a regular measure, while long horizontal shelves make each arrangement read as a continuous elevation rather than a row of separate units. The frame can be specified in black brass, which gives the outline a warmer and more graphic presence, or satin-polished stainless steel, which reflects the room and visually recedes. An enclosed box shelf interrupts that rhythm only where concealment is useful.

This is why the system can carry objects without becoming visually busy. Books, vessels and lighting sit inside a framework that is present but not heavy. In a long living room the low version can anchor art without competing with it; in a dining room the high version can provide storage and display while the open rods allow wall colour and daylight to remain part of the composition.

Seven modules, not one frozen composition

GUBI’s launch programme organises Keen into seven core groups. Low systems are 88 centimetres high and come at 160 or 208 centimetres wide, with either three open shelves or a 160-centimetre arrangement combining one shelf and one box. High systems are 198 centimetres tall, in 96, 160 or 208 centimetre widths, with six open shelves or a 160-centimetre version combining four shelves and one box. Every group is 36 centimetres deep.

The important word is “core”. Rods, shelves, boxes, feet and arches form a kit whose value is not exhausted by the first arrangement. Keen can be wall-mounted, freestanding or used as a room divider, and its logic allows a composition to grow horizontally or vertically. That makes the planning question different from choosing a fixed bookcase: the first decision is where the line should begin and end, followed by what needs to be visible, what needs to be concealed and how the system may need to change later.

Material changes the rhythm

Three shelf materials give the structure distinct roles. Tinted tempered glass keeps the horizontal planes visually light and lets the frame remain dominant. Black-brown stained ash veneer produces a quieter, more continuous field, particularly when paired with black brass. FSC Mix Credit ALPI Sottsass Gray veneer introduces a fine graphic grain that is legible from across the room without turning the shelf into a pattern exercise. The two veneer options carry FSC Mix Credit certification; GUBI identifies the chain-of-custody code as FSC C176589.

Care follows the surface rather than the product name. GUBI recommends a soft dry cloth for glass, with mild detergent and water only when required, followed by drying. Metal should be cleaned with warm water and mild detergent on a soft cloth, avoiding acidic, alkaline, ammonia-based and abrasive cleaners. Veneer should be wiped in the direction of the grain with a well-wrung cloth and dried immediately; excess moisture, abrasive treatment and prolonged direct sunlight should be avoided.

How Objena would specify it

A good Keen specification starts with the room rather than the finish sample. We would record the available wall length, skirting and power points, circulation route, items to be stored, proportion that should remain concealed, and whether the system may later extend. From there, the 96, 160 and 208 centimetre modules can be compared at scale before choosing the frame and shelf combination.

GUBI’s press material lists seven recommended retail starting points, but the final commercial position depends on the selected finish combination, Australian stock, freight and installation. Objena is therefore preparing the Keen Shelving System catalogue entry as a consultation-led piece. If confirmed Australian stock is available, dispatch is from Sydney or Melbourne; otherwise supply is arranged from the relevant overseas maker or warehouse. A consultant confirms the exact route and timing in writing before an order proceeds. The wider house context is held in the GUBI collection.

Three questions

Who designed the GUBI Keen Shelving System? Linda Korndal of the Copenhagen studio Toko Among Friends designed Keen for GUBI in 2025. Her system uses a limited family of rods, shelves, feet, arches and an optional box shelf.

What configurations does the Keen Shelving System come in? GUBI groups Keen into seven core arrangements, in widths of 96, 160 and 208 centimetres and heights of 88 or 198 centimetres. The parts can extend horizontally or vertically, with open-shelf and box-shelf compositions.

What materials are available for the Keen Shelving System? Frames are offered in black brass or satin-polished stainless steel. Shelves are available in tinted tempered glass, FSC Mix Credit black-brown stained ash veneer or FSC Mix Credit ALPI Sottsass Gray veneer.