Building Books

Asked to consider the process of bookmaking (and the many processes that category includes: the conception and composition of a narrative, the organization of text and graphics on a page or form or screen, the physical or digital processes of printing that media, and the binding and covering of pages) in relation to making of space and buildings, we speculated about a potential extension to the existing Western New York Book Arts Center facility in downtown Buffalo. Having spent the summer down in the basement of WNYBAC, organizing type, setting forms, running editions, smelling solvent and lead and old wood, I felt I had an acute idea of what these processes were and how they might inform the making of a new space for the organization. Programmatically, we were concerned with spaces for both exhibition and retreat (for both an artist- and writer-in-residence), expanding and distributing the functions contained primarily in the ground floor of the existing building.

Before coming up with individual design proposals, our studio collaborated on a book describing the site, the  design objectives, program requirements and relevant precedents. Using the design of the book itself as an opportunity to think about the structure of a book (as an artifact), I came up with an accordion-style format, which could be read as a conventional book, in two-page spreads, but also expanded to read as a full vertical board, to suit our interest in modes of architectural presentation. A loose, threaded binding accommodates this kind of operation, and also articulates a detail of book-binding that is usually concealed by the spine of a traditional book.

The book, the object:










The book, the narrative:






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