Located on the fourth floor of a seemingly residential building in the Nørrebro area of the Danish capital is the studio of JDS Architects, home to Julien De Smedt and his team. Born in Brussels, the designer has worked far and wide in 45 different countries before pitching his tent in Copenhagen for good.

Being trained as an architect, De Smedt’s work permeates the world of architecture and industrial design, ranging from large-scale architecture that includes a ski jump hill construction and public harbor baths to furniture designs that include the Stacked Storage System.

On his inspiration for the design of Stacked, De Smedt says: “The design aims at identifying this very intricate space in the world of shelving where storage, display and versatility becomes one. I have moved homes countless of times and it has made me see my belongings in a new light, valuing their ability to adapt to new and ever-changing surroundings to a high degree,” he says and adds: “I had some shelving units stacked atop one another in my home which worked but was also a mess. It was there that I discovered the incredible flexibility that could be found if the design was executed in the right way.”

Walking through De Smedt’s workspace are configurations of Stacked, used as both a low room divider and shelf system for storing publications, sketches and small-scale models. Looking towards the expression of the system, De Smedt notes: “The form of Stacked came as a reaction to all the things that I didn’t want for the design to be; I wanted it to be something that was simple and clean, created as a response to the messy look of the shelving units in my home.”

From there, De Smedt’s mind wanders towards the broader ethos of Stacked: “What’s interesting is that today, 10 years after its creation, the heart of Stacked is still the same yet we’re continuously working to evolve its materiality, colors and functions. Sure, the individual pieces still serve the same purpose yet we’re proceeding to expand the possibility of use within the design, allowing for it to serve an array of needs in modern spaces.”

This year, Muuto introduced the Stacked Storage System Planner, allowing for users to explore the endless possibilities of the design by customizing it to their exact aesthetic and spatial needs: “Stacked has always given me the feeling of playing around with Lego bricks in the early days—when it was just bricks and nothing else; it’s so simple but you can do so many things with it. I’ve moved my Stacked setup around probably 50 times or more over the past years. It’s strange to praise your own work but I’ve used Stacked in so many different ways that I feel like it’s ok,” laughs the designer. 

In closing, De Smedt thinks aloud on what makes Stacked embody the Muuto ethos of a new perspective: “Being from outside of Scandinavia yet having lived here for more than 20 years, I feel that Stacked reflects this duality in the sense that it expands the existing standards within a design typology. It is simple; it is rigid; and it is elementary in a positive way. However, through its configurable nature, it unleashes something that adds to the Scandinavian design philosophy and brings a new perspective into the world. To me, Scandinavian design is much more than the box that people tend to place it in and I am proud for Stacked to be part of that otherness.”

Get creative and explore the Stacked Storage System in the Planner here where you can design your own configuration of the design.

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