Carlton Bookcase by Ettore Sottsass is a Memphis landmark. It is the totemic Carlton room partition. By integrating a space divider, bookcase, and chest of drawers, the object questions traditional furniture designs. It is built of medium-density fiberboard (MDF) and inexpensive plastic laminate, a subversion of high and low, and is expertly manufactured for the upper end of the market. Avant-garde art and sculpture are suggested by the vibrant colors and seemingly random interaction of solids and spaces. A perfectly logical structural system of explicit and implicit equilateral triangles exists beneath the surface, nonetheless. Although the sloped shelving appears contradictory at first glance, it accommodates books that frequently topple over on upright shelves. The divider can be read in a variety of ways, including as a robot extending an extended hand to the user.