This side table isn’t finished until you add your books

Deniz Aktay’s Bookgroove carves a deep curve into a wooden cylinder, and lets your books close the circle.

feeldesain

26 October 2026

Wooden cylindrical Bookgroove side table by Deniz Aktay with books stacked in its curved groove

A walnut-coloured cylinder stands on the floor, smooth and solid, the kind of side table you would put next to an armchair without a second thought. Then you notice a deep groove sweeping down one side, as if someone had taken a giant spoon to it. Left empty, the piece looks oddly unfinished. Slide a few paperbacks into the curve and the cylinder closes up again.

Two wooden Bookgroove side tables, one empty showing the curved groove and one filled with books — Bookgroove empty and full. Courtesy of Deniz Aktay

That is the whole idea behind Bookgroove, a side table and book rack by Germany-based designer Deniz Aktay. A long, deep, curved channel is cut into a solid wood cylinder; the books go into the groove, and once it is full the volume gets its perfectly round silhouette back. As Aktay puts it, the books and the wood “fuse together”.

Furniture that needs its contents

There is something quietly clever about an object that only looks complete when it is in use. Most bookcases are designed to hold books. This one is designed to be finished by them. Seen from above, the groove traces a J, starting near the top and curling down towards the base, so the books fan out along a gentle spiral instead of standing in a dutiful row. The top stays free for what side tables are really for: a coffee, a glass of wine, the reading glasses you will lose again in ten minutes.

Empty wooden Bookgroove side table showing the deep curved groove cut into the cylinder — The groove, empty, carved into solid wood. Courtesy of Deniz Aktay

Top view of the wooden Bookgroove side table with its J shaped groove — Seen from above, the groove reads as a J. Courtesy of Deniz Aktay

Aktay says he designed it because he loves objects that do more than one job, and because he enjoys how compact it is. Fair enough. A single cylinder stands in for a small shelf and a side table, and fits in the narrow gap next to the sofa where neither would.

Bookgroove side table seen from above with books in the groove and a glass on the tabletop — Books below, a glass on top. Courtesy of Deniz Aktay

Handle with care

Not everything is solved. The books at the bottom of the curve carry the weight of the ones above, which may not thrill anyone who collects first editions. Pulling a volume out from the middle of the stack takes a little patience, and a full cup of coffee right above your library calls for a steady hand. Bookgroove is less a storage system than a small, sculptural display, best suited to the books you are reading now, or the ones you would like your guests to think you are reading.

Aktay presented Bookgroove in 2022, and there is no word yet on production. We would happily make room for one.

Project: Bookgroove, side table and book rack
Design: Deniz Aktay
Year: 2022
Material: solid wood
Images: courtesy of Deniz Aktay
Via: ArchUp and Creative Manila