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forthcoming
Product details
- ISBN 9783775762311
- Publication Date: 24 Sep 2026
- Publisher: Hatje Cantz
- Publication City/Country: DE
- Product Form: Paperback
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Constructing instead of consuming: good design for little money
The successful Internet campaign, now in a convenient collected volume
“You don’t have any money for furniture? Then build some yourself!” Just in time for the do-it-yourself wave, Berlin-based architect and rapper Van Bo Le-Mentzel (*1977), popularly known as Le van Bo, has hit a nerve with his initiative. Amateurs have followed his instructions and built hundreds of cube sofas, the “Berliner Hocker,” or “24-Euro Chairs” for a price that even the long-term unemployed can afford. A model apartment furnished with these pieces of furniture proves that it is possible to live tastefully without expensive grandstanding.
Van Bo Le-Mentzel’s call on the Internet to send him similar good ideas appealed to numerous users. The result of this “crowd sourcing” is this pocketbook with intelligent, build-it-yourself furniture accompanied by (life)wisdom from a multitalented artist and packed into book form. With blueprints and lists of materials, guaranteed “doable” by everyone.
The successful Internet campaign, now in a convenient collected volume
“You don’t have any money for furniture? Then build some yourself!” Just in time for the do-it-yourself wave, Berlin-based architect and rapper Van Bo Le-Mentzel (*1977), popularly known as Le van Bo, has hit a nerve with his initiative. Amateurs have followed his instructions and built hundreds of cube sofas, the “Berliner Hocker,” or “24-Euro Chairs” for a price that even the long-term unemployed can afford. A model apartment furnished with these pieces of furniture proves that it is possible to live tastefully without expensive grandstanding.
Van Bo Le-Mentzel’s call on the Internet to send him similar good ideas appealed to numerous users. The result of this “crowd sourcing” is this pocketbook with intelligent, build-it-yourself furniture accompanied by (life)wisdom from a multitalented artist and packed into book form. With blueprints and lists of materials, guaranteed “doable” by everyone.
Van Bo Le-Mentzel (*1977), architect and author creates initiatives and inventions at the intersection of social participation and design. Le-Mentzel is the director of the non-profit Tiny Foundation and specializes in micro-housing. Developing affordable housing for low-income individuals he has been awarded the Werkbund Label, the ZEIT Wissen Award, and the Bayreuther Exemplary Prize. His designs are featured in the collections of renowned museums, including the Vitra Design Museum, the Bauhaus-Archiv MfG, and Bauhaus Weimar. Le-Mentzel lives in Berlin with his wife and three children.
