Uniquely Shaped Spaces is a web-based tool for designing custom, oddly shaped shelving around the contours of the objects you want to display—souvenirs, ceramics, mementos, collections, and other odd-shaped artifacts. Rather than designing a shelf first and forcing belongings to adapt, we ask what happens when objects “make” their own spaces: their shapes and arrangements become the starting point, and shelving emerges around them. The result is mixed-initiative by design: objects, algorithms, and people all contribute to the final form. In a study with five creatives, participants treated the shelves as conversation pieces and evolving displays, continually rearranging items, renegotiating what “belongs” where, and reading the compartments as cues for reflection and storytelling.
