Detecting the problem is part of the solution. This has been a constant slogan in our design work. One of our first pieces for B.D. was the a Sardinel letter box. A problem had been detected: the ever-increasing volumes of correspondence and publicity had surpassed the capacity of the rather exiguous letter boxes in use at that time; and neither could the boxes accommodate the magazines and newspapers which were then beginning to be distributed via post.

However, simply making the boxes bigger while maintaining the standard configuration would have meant taking up immense amounts of wall space; that’s why we thought of placing the letter boxes on edge, like bricks in rowlock formation – a sardinel in Spanish. The letter boxes thus took on a tall, narrow and deep form, and could, like books on a shelf, be arranged into a compact block in the vestibule of a building.

(Out of production)