Hidden Magnets and Hollowed Quartzite: Imto Deschini's Concav Book Lights Up

By Amara Osei

Two hidden magnets decide whether the Concav Book glows. Connect the C-shaped element to the L-shaped base and the light switches on; pull them apart and it dies. No button, no cord-fumbling. That's the whole interface, and it's refreshingly honest.

The CONCAV collection, designed by Ignacio Martínez Todeschini and Ignacio Noel of Imto Deschini Studio and produced in Argentina, pairs Brazilian quartzite with galvanized steel. Its inaugural release, Concav Book, works as a hybrid bookend and luminaire — the kind of category mash that usually produces clutter, not clarity. This one mostly avoids it.

How does the light actually work?

The mechanism is simple. A fixed L-shaped steel base houses the light source and carries the books' weight. A mobile C-shaped element attaches to it. Hidden magnets regulate the internal circuitry: touching the two parts activates the light, separating them turns it off.

That magnetic connection does more than switching. It lets the user adjust the configuration to fit the arrangement and volume of books on the shelf. Small shelf, big shelf, growing stack — the geometry flexes.

The stone is the showpiece. The central module is a hollowed, curved piece of quartzite, shaped through CNC milling and finished by hand. The process tucks the light source inside the stone, producing a backlit linear element that cuts against the material's natural density. Solid rock, made to look lit from within. It's a trick worth watching.

What does the pairing accomplish?

Bookends are furniture's most patient objects — heavy, mute, entirely decorative until gravity calls. Bolting a luminaire onto one risks gimmickry. The designers dodge it by keeping the gesture minimal: two parts, one magnet, one light.

The contrast carries the design. Quartzite reads as ancient; galvanized steel reads as industrial. Backlighting the former inside a frame of the latter gives the object a quiet tension, closer to a sculpture that happens to hold paperbacks than a lamp that happens to shelve them.

All images are credited to ANNLAB I PRODUCTORA. The project arrives via designboom's DIY submissions feature, which suggests Imto Deschini is courting international attention for a first release — a sensible bet, given the collection format leaves room for the magnetic-switch logic to migrate into other objects beyond the shelf.

project info:

• name: Concav Book
• designer: Imto Deschini – Ignacio Martínez Todeschini | @imtodeschini
• lead designers: Ignacio Martínez Todeschini, Ignacio Noel
• photographer: ANNLAB I PRODUCTORA | @annlab_